Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the welcome to me and the officials of the Office of Public Works. I am pleased to be before the committee again to present the 2024 Revised Estimate for the Office of Public Works. The gross allocation for 2024 is €645 million, which comprises €140 million for climate-responsive flood risk management and €505 million to be invested in estate management.

First, the structure of the OPW Vote remains unchanged. However, in line with the Government’s infrastructure investment of €165 billion under the NDP from 2021 to 2030, the OPW has seen a 3.6% increase in its capital allocation. This funding will contribute towards the ambitious plan for a greener, more efficient, connected Ireland, part of our climate goal to cut emissions by 50% by 2030.

As the OPW funding allocations, projects and scope of work continue to expand, the two main strategic programmes, namely, climate responsive flood risk management and estate management have grown. The recognition of the threat of climate change has been underlined by events such as COP 28. While the State needs to introduce measures to decarbonise, it also needs to introduce measures to prepare and adapt to the impacts of climate change. As I have highlighted regularly, Ireland is an island nation, and the sea is rising around us. This is one of our greatest risks.

Under its climate responsive flood risk management brief, the OPW continues to co-ordinate Ireland’s whole-of-government approach to managing Ireland’s flood risk from rivers and the sea, the primary source of Ireland’s flood risk. The OPW's core objective is to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the impact of flooding on homes and businesses, especially in those communities known to be at significant risk. I have seen first-hand the devastating impact that flooding can have on homeowners, businesses and communities.

The flood risk management plans, launched in May 2018, provide evidence to support the Government’s investment in flood risk management over the lifetime of the NDP. This investment supports the progression of some 150 schemes. As Deputies will know, delivering flood relief schemes is a very complex process, with significant challenges, and requires us to do a number of things. These include: understanding the specific sources; identifying the preferred option; securing the relevant consents and planning permissions; and, ultimately, building and maintaining the scheme to the required standard of protection. Throughout all stages, public consultation and detailed assessments of the environmental impacts are critical to informing the design of a scheme for a community.

The prioritisation of schemes means that work is now under way to protect 80% of at-risk properties with proposed solutions for the other 20%. Since 2018, the OPW has been able to treble the number of schemes at the design or construction stages to some 100 schemes. Flood risk projects require expertise and input from engineers in the area of hydrology. As we progress with future schemes, the OPW will continue to make the most efficient use of all available resources and specialist personnel.

One of the principal factors affecting Ireland’s flood risk management is climate change. In designing and building all our schemes, provision is made to ensure they can meet the risk posed by climate change. The OPW’s assessment of risk is fully supported by the evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. We anticipate that the 2024 allocation will enable OPW to reach a series of important milestones. This includes continuing the construction of three major flood relief schemes, namely, in Glashaboy in Cork, the Morell River in Kildare, and Whitechurch. We are commencing construction on up to five major other schemes. These are King’s Island in Limerick, Morrison’s Island in Cork, Crossmolina, subject to planning consent, the Poddle and the River Wad. We are progressing up to three further flood schemes towards substantial completion. These are in Athlone, Springfield and Templemore. These schemes will protect more than 600 properties.

Outside these major schemes, local authorities can address local flooding issues through funding from the OPW’s minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme. This provides 90% of the funding required by local authorities and, since 2009, has protected almost 7,900 properties. In addition to the major and minor schemes, the allocation of €140 million to flood risk management in 2024 will help the OPW to maintain some 11,500 km of channels and 800 km of embankments as part of its statutory maintenance duties. This maintenance provides drainage outfall to 650,000 acres of land and a level of protection from flooding to urban areas and critical infrastructure, including more than 20,000 properties.

The second major OPW programme is estate management which continues to fund the design, upkeep and modernisation of a significant number of properties within the State’s property portfolio. These includes heritage sites, Civil Service office accommodation for all Government Departments, An Garda Síochána and many other Government bodies. In all, we manage more than 2,500 properties on behalf of the State, which includes some of Ireland’s most significant properties, gardens and arboretums. Properties range from Leinster House to Sceilg Mhicíl and other office buildings. This management role includes the curation and presentation of 30 major historical properties, 700 national monuments, as well as the State’s art collection, artefacts, plants and trees. This is work that makes a significant contribution to the

health and well-being of the public.

In 2024, OPW heritage sites will play a critical role in the resurgence of Ireland’s tourism economy which are particularly important assets for our rural areas. Ongoing projects, such as the new visitor experience at the Record Tower in Dublin Castle, show that OPW continues to invest in visitor experience and the conservation of these unique places.

In the context of office accommodation, the OPW is charged with designing the workplace of the future for the Civil Service. It aims to deliver accommodation that facilitates more agile ways of working to meet our future needs. In particular, we are actively engaging with our clients in the context of their operational requirements and their long-term blended working policies to ensure that they have the right-sized accommodation that continues to provide value for money for the Exchequer.

Also in 2024, the OPW will see the reopening, after a deep retrofit project, of Tom Johnson House in Beggars Bush. This project, which is being largely funded by the EU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and which has reached substantial completion, will provide an exemplar of how an existing obsolete building can be transformed into a modern highly energy-efficient and agile workplace. It will provide a long-term headquarters for the Department of the Environment, Climate Action and Communications and this development will enable the release of an expensive leasehold property in due course.

Members will be aware that as a consequence of the ongoing war in Ukraine, Ireland, along with our EU colleagues, has welcomed tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians to our shores. The OPW is assisting the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on an agency basis by piloting a project to

deliver modular homes which will accommodate Ukrainians at sites around the country. Similar to the Brexit infrastructure projects, the Ukraine modular homes project represents another example of us assisting an all-of-government response.

A gross sum allocation of €505 million has been provided for estate management within the 2024 Revised Estimate. Of this €41 million has been allocated as part of the EU National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which I have referred to. This funding was made available to Ireland to contribute to climate action projects and will ensure the OPW is well positioned to continue to contribute towards Europe’s climate and energy objectives and to support the recovery of the tourism sector and the wider economy. Protecting the economy is at the heart of everything we do in all aspects of our work, whether maintaining our national heritage sites or in arterial drainage works.

Finally, I have only referred to a small section of our work. The scale and complexity of our responsibilities in the delivery of the two infrastructural programmes I have referred to have a considerable impact nationwide and are dependent on the expertise and commitment of its staff. The nature of the work of the Office of Public Works requires the input of a dedicated team of professional, technical and administrative staff working in a multi-disciplinary team across a wide range of property management, heritage conservation and engineering functions. The roles cover professional managers, valuers, architects, engineers, mechanical and electrical specialists, surveyors, planners, financial advisers, property economists, and project managers, and are supplemented by other specialists as we require them. These staff play a valuable role in protecting, promoting and sustaining rural and urban life in Ireland. I can say with confidence that the OPW stands ready to deliver the programmes for the Government. I will be happy to take any questions on the Revised Estimate requirements for 2024.