While our head of state Michael D Higgins has an official residence, Ireland's head of government never has.
For decades there have been talks about creating a dedicated Áras an Taoisigh but never has the dram come to fruition.
Research by Newstalk reporter Simon Tierney shows that 21 out of 27 EU countries have an official Prime Minister's residence.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, he gave a rundown of the history and how Ireland compares to its European neighbours.
Jack Lynch first proposed the idea when he was leader of the opposition in the early 1970s.
When Ireland joined the EEC, people felt even more of a need to have somewhere to receive foreign dignitaries and the idea garnered cross-party support.
Design competition
A design competition was established in 1979 for a residence to be built on what is now the site of the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.
Shane O'Toole, adjunct associate professor of architecture at UCD, says it was a "big deal" at the time.
"It would be the most important commission that most architects could imagine getting and it attracted a lot of international attention", he said.
A Welsh-Israeli company based in Britain ended up winning the competition, but the plan never went ahead, Prof O'Toole said, due to the political climate in Ireland with Charlie Haughey taking over as Taoiseach.
Other countries
In the EU, Ireland is one of the only states without an official prime minister's residence. Others are mainly former Soviet republics in eastern Europe.
"Ireland is the only country on the list that has one of the highest GDP is really", Simon Tierney explained.
In France, not only does its Prime Minister have a special historic residence, many of its senior members do too.
Paris correspondent with the Irish Times Lara Marlowe said they're quite fancy too.
"Basically what happened is that these old palaces or chateaus from the old feudal regime from before the French Revolution passed on to successive French government", she explained.
Steward's Lodge
While the Taoiseach in Ireland does not primarily live in a state residence currently, one house is reserved exclusively for him.
The Taoiseach can stay in Seward's Lodge, a four-bedroom Georgian house just by Farmleigh Estate in Phoenix Park, but he must pay a small fee of €50 per night.
The house gets very little use, with the Taoiseach not sleeping there one night in 2021 or 2022.
However, it did get a lot of use during lockdown as Leo Varadkar's sometimes pandemic pad.
Listen back to the full conversation here.
Main image shows Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
