Package which resulted in Department of Health evacuation turned out to be harmless

The offices of the Department of Health on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin were evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious parcel was discovered in the building.

Staff in Miesian Plaza, which houses the departments of health and children, were told to leave the building.

Gardaí, ambulance and fire brigade units responded just after 1pm following an emergency call. The Defence Forces Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team arrived soon after.

A Garda spokeswoman confirmed that a suspicious parcel was discovered.

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The EOD team donned haz-mat suits and initiated “white-powder incidents” protocols before examining the package. It quickly determined the powder was a harmless household product similar to baking powder.

The matter has been handed back to gardaí who will attempt to establish where the package was sent from and if it was sent maliciously.

The Department of Health said while the building had been evacuated earlier on Tuesday it had later been “cleared for access” by staff.”

The Department’s offices were also evacuated in March of last year when an envelope containing powder was discovered. It was later deemed non-hazardous by Defence Forces technicians.

Commenting on the incident at the time Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said: “I’m not sure what kind of oddballs send suspicious packages in the post but they should be well aware that it is not politicians opening the mail, it’s people doing a normal job, a receptionist or a security guard or clerical officer or someone in the constituency team.”