TDS and senators will find the corridors of power significantly expanded when they return from their summer break in October. On their first day back, October 3rd, the ribbon is due to be cut on a new £25 million wing providing acres more space.
The scheme known as Leinster House 2000 is just the beginning. There are plans to return the historic buildings and their surrounds to their former glory.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is expected to perform the opening ceremony on the building, which is the first to be constructed by the State specifically for the use of the Oireachtas. The last public building constructed by the British was Government Buildings, in 1912.
Situated on the site of the former National College of Art and Design, the 10,000 sq m block will include members' waiting rooms, party rooms, interview rooms and public meeting rooms.
It consists of two interlinked blocks laid out around a central pool garden and landscaped courtyards.
The 110 TDs and senators to be housed in the new building will have cellular offices laid out around an irregularly-shaped open-air atrium. The two blocks will be linked at every level by glazed corridors, which will provide more natural lighting.
The idea is that daylight from a glazed roof over the grand staircase will carry to the basement foyer, around which are new committee rooms. Those lucky enough to get offices on the sixth floor will have an excellent view of Merrion Square and beyond to the Dublin Mountains.
One of the main aims of the project was to ease the difficulties caused by the large distances between many of the offices from the Dail and Seanad chambers, as well as the cramped conditions for TDs and senators sharing offices, according to the Office of Public Works.
Currently two deputies share each office, usually a small room, which presents many difficulties, particularly if either is meeting a delegation, an OPW spokeswoman explained. From October, everyone will have their own office.
The building was designed by OPW architects and consultant architects Dolan & Donnelly. Advice on how to ensure the building was in harmony with its surrounds was given by Mr Paul Arnold, historic buildings and conservation consultant, who advised the OPW on the historic aspects of the project.
The cleverness of the design means that they have managed to slot in a large office building on a tight site just north of Leinster House without compromising the original building.
The main public entrance to the wing will be from Kildare Street. As well the new wing, a £5 million refurbishment has been carried out in Leinster House on the floors occupied by the Labour Party and the five-storey wing. TDs and senators who are accommodated in Kildare House, in Kildare Street, will be moving to make way for a gym and creche for 25 children, complete with an outside play area.
Nearly one-third of the lawns at the back of Leinster House were ripped up tp provide temporary car-parking at the beginning of the project in early 1998. Up to 68 of the 200-plus parking spaces in Leinster House were lost when contractors took up a gravelled strip on the northern edge of the lawn and erected hoarding to turn it into a building site.
That lawn will be replaced shortly, but other options for car-parking, including an underground car-park, are being examined to remove parking from the front and rear of Leinster House.
The next plan, according to the OPW spokeswoman, is to restore the surrounds of Leinster House to its 18th-century glory, with possible public access to the lawns. The famous plinth in front of Leinster House may also be reviewed and will remain if found to be in keeping with the style.