Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Donnelly for his kind remarks about my colleagues in the OPW. I can state bluntly that the radical reductions occurred in recent years. The organisation is at its lowest point in terms of numbers for a very long time. People are having to do things differently. I will give an example. The OPW provides architectural help and support to the Department of Education and Skills with regard to the provision of new school buildings. It can be argued that the OPW should have been doing that before now. All of that work used to be done by the private sector. Given that the OPW's architects are not as busy with capital projects as they used to be - the funds are not there - it is understandable that the OPW has been asked to assume responsibility for this. It is one example of how the OPW is doing things differently.

I will give a second example. The OPW's owned estate comprises approximately 60% of the 2,200 buildings it uses. It is possible that more should have been done in recent years to audit those buildings in terms of thermal efficiency. Many old and significant buildings should have been adapted for these purposes. That work is having to be done now. A great deal of the direct labour that used to be done by the building maintenance service is now being outsourced to contractors because of the squeeze that is on. The Deputy was right to mention that the reduction in the coming year will be just 1.4%, but he needs to have regard to the enormous reductions of recent years. We are at the bones of the organisation. If we start to take more people away, we will have to question whether the OPW can continue to perform the key roles it is asked to perform.

Most of those who work in the OPW are industrial staff. They work on the ground in our communities every day, in line with the functions given to them by the State. The OPW has 1,200 industrial staff and approximately 500 civil servants. It is not a traditional organisation like the individual Departments. The majority of OPW workers are industrial staff. Some members of the committee might be aware that I have tried to recruit volunteers to help us to present our heritage sites. Approximately 30 pilot projects involving community groups have been rolled out this year at local heritage sites. The volunteers are helping us to present our sites and offer additional value. We are working with local communities to try to reinvent the organisation.

Deputy Donnelly asked about the future of council buildings following the decision announced by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, yesterday. It is a crucial question. When I go around the country, I see many brand spanking new buildings with no one in them. The level of economic activity has brought them into question. We have responsibility for central government rather than local government. There is a very strong argument for a property management section within central government to have a remit across the public sector. That is the space we are moving into. I said something similar in response to a question asked by Deputy Fleming earlier. Not only do we have to ensure the function is co-ordinated by central government, but we also have to go further by examining whether better uses can be found for all the public buildings that exist. Many buildings will be freed up as a result of the decision that was announced yesterday.

The Deputy also asked what we would lose in the event of further cuts. I am very proud that we have managed to ring-fence certain areas, such as flood relief, when cuts have had to be made. Today's floods in Cork and elsewhere have reminded us of the importance of continuing to roll out capital funds in this regard. I made a significant announcement that funds will be made available over the next two years for a project in Bray, which is in the Deputy's constituency. At a time when capital expenditure is being reduced, it is important for this country to continue to invest in flood relief. Flooding is a major problem, especially in light of the global warming issue. We have been able to ring-fence that. It could be argued that further budgetary cuts would lead to the closure of heritage buildings or the withdrawal of some of the guides who show the public around. We are not at that stage yet. Workers across the OPW have bought into the changes that have been made within the organisation and agreed to deliver services in a much more efficient way. I thank them for their forbearance in that regard.

I do not disagree with what Deputy Donnelly said about the three month budget window. I think it would be a good thing. However, it is not a decision to be taken at my pay grade.