The Australian company involved in a €2.36 billion takeover bid for Eircom has been selected as the preferred tenderer to build a new criminal courts complex in Dublin.
The Courts Service has announced that it will now enter into detailed negotiations with Babcock and Brown to conclude a contract on what it described as a "landmark project".
Courts Service
A 22-courtroom complex on a site at Parkgate Street and Infirmary Road will be built in a public private partnership arrangement.
The Courts Service said the complex will be a state-of-the-art criminal justice facility "suited to the administration of criminal justice in twenty first century Ireland".
All central Dublin criminal business will be conducted on the new site. Existing courts and administrative offices from the District, Circuit and Central courts will be transferred to the new facility.
The Courts Service said the building will be designed to overcome the security, service delivery and logistical problems of running criminal trials in a number of sites dispersed throughout the Four Courts campus.
"In particular, there is an urgent need to overcome the security and other implications of continuing with the present arrangements whereby it is necessary to transport prisoners in handcuffs through public areas from one end of the campus to the other," the service said.
It added that the facility will result in a much-improved service to the public, witnesses, jurors, judiciary, professionals and staff.
"In particular, the facilities currently available for victims, witnesses, jurors, the public and prisoners fall short of those required to facilitate all groups who use the courts."
"The Courts Service will deliver this facility by means of a Public Private Partnership. It believes that this method of delivery presents an opportunity to leverage private sector innovation, ensure quick and efficient delivery and so deliver best value for taxpayers."
Consultation rooms and accommodation for up to 100 prisoners will be included in the new courts building.
The existing criminal courts within the Four Courts complex in Dublin will be used mainly for civil cases, a spokesman said. The Four Courts building itself, a protected structure, will not be affected by the move.
Australian investment fund Babcock & Brown and the Eircom employee share ownership trust (Esot) last month advanced a €2.36 billion takeover bid for the telecommunications firm.