Steward’s Lodge – the house reserved for the Taoiseach on the Farmleigh Estate – has been used on just three occasions since Leo Varadkar took office.
According to the Office of Public Works (OPW), the agency that maintains the building, it was not used at all last year.
The three dates when it was last used were from 24-26 December 2022.
Steward’s Lodge is part of the Farmleigh Estate and so a breakdown of maintenance costs could not be provided by the OPW.
No capital works have been carried out on the property in recent times.
Taoisigh are charged €50 per night when they use Steward’s Lodge. However, the house is rarely used.
Micheál Martin never stayed in the property when he was Taoiseach.
Mr Varadkar did stay in Steward’s Lodge for a period of time during the Covid-19 pandemic when he was Taoiseach and for a number of days afterwards when he became Tánaiste.
Labour’s Alan Kelly has called for the building to be put to better use.
“The building is an asset to the state and as such should be made available to agencies like the IDA and Fáilte Ireland for greater use as its obviously of little benefit to the Taoiseach or the Government,” he said.
Mr Kelly has previously sought greater transparency regarding maintenance costs associated with the property.
Read more: Almost €90,000 spent on upgrades to Steward’s Lodge
