The Public Accounts Committee has heard the IDA has bought out a lease on an empty building in Dublin that was costing the taxpayer €1m a year.

The agency was due to pay out the money for the next 20 years for the premises in Ballsbridge that also houses the Israeli Embassy.

The Comptroller and Auditor General said that they settled the lease last year for €9.4m.

Seamus McCarthy said that it was next to impossible to get any other tenant into the building.

“The difficulty with Carrisbrook House is, I think, it was regarded that there was a security concern,” he said.

“This Israeli Embassy was a sub-tenant of Carrisbrook House and I think it was difficult to market the property because of security risks.”