The government’s failed bid to host the EU’s new anti-money laundering agency (AMLA) ended up costing €214,000 as officials said a financial incentive of up to €80 million would be key to having any hope of success.
Ireland was one of nine countries which had sought to become the headquarters of the new agency but lost out in voting to Frankfurt in Germany in February.
In a series of submissions for Finance Minister Michael McGrath in the twelve months leading up to the decision, officials said the financial commitment to host the AMLA was likely to be between €60 and €80 million.
They said a suitable office building of around 10,000 square metres would need to be made available quickly and that rent would be in the range of €6 to €8 million.
The IDA had said developers might be interested in providing a deal on costs given the high-profile nature of the anti-money laundering agency.
However, department officials said this could not be taken for granted and that rental costs would be in the region of €60 per square foot.
That would leave an annual rent bill of at least €6 million before fit-out, maintenance, and car parking costs were considered.
One submission from last summer said: “When Ireland sought to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a sum of €83 million to €88 million was approved as a financial package and a sum amounting to €14.5 million was approved for the European Banking Authority (EBA) bid.
“It is likely that AMLA will be considerably larger than the EBA and perhaps of a similar size to the EMA.”