Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. Certainly it is a challenging environment. I wish to focus on one or two issues. The Minister mentioned his observations from driving around the county where he saw spanking new buildings, many of which are empty. My concern is with older buildings. In the context of local government reform it is possible there will be a substantial number of older buildings which have been in the care of the State in one form or another up to now which may be searching for a tenant. I am aware - I regret to say this - of many older buildings, some of which have fallen into a state of considerable disrepair, which have considerable heritage value and which under the law of the land, if in private ownership, would possibly be the subject of derelict site notices and compliance orders. There is a significant challenge for the OPW on how to aggressively pursue the various State agencies, Departments, fisheries and education agencies and the HSE, as their leases on premises expire or are reviewed to move these people into tenancies in these areas. Is the Department actively involved in compiling an inventory of these buildings and the guesstimate of the costs involved? There is one such building in Macroom, a former FCA premises, which is in a deplorable state of disrepair. It is a fine building in the centre of the town. That is just one example; I am sure the country is littered with similar type buildings. That is regrettable because such buildings are part of our built heritage and, notwithstanding the difficult times, there is a need to work as hard as possible to transfer tenancies into these buildings. After an old building has been vacated for six months and the heating has been turned off it falls into a state of considerable disrepair and dampness. If a building is vacated for six years, one has a real problem. Many of these buildings have been unoccupied for a long period. Most town councils around the country are probably housed in old Victorian era buildings which have found a useful way of contributing to the public good but, if vacated, would deteriorate significantly. That is an issue of which we need to be conscious and work aggressively to remedy.

The Minister referred to Finglas Garda station and a community crèche. There is much fear in rural areas, although not exclusively, in the context of community policing that there may be a further review of the Garda barrack network as to the likely sustainable number going forward. Given their low value, particularly in rural areas, closing and putting them up for sale will yield little if anything in the short term because there is no market to purchase many of those buildings for which the OPW is responsible. Perhaps the Minister would explore the option of making those facilities available to community organisations in order that they can be a fulcrum for delivering social welfare services, community welfare services, Teagasc services and, although in the current environment the Garda authorities may say it does not want the responsibility of maintaining these buildings, they would still be available to the local Garda for community alert meetings or to maintain a presence in an area. We have to think outside the box in finding new uses, working with local communities. Whether by lease or nominal lease arrangement that issue should be pursued.