Ms Clare McGrath:

I am sorry; the system has not changed. I am the chair of a working group on property asset management reform. The group is representative of all public sector property holders. We are examining how we can best use the office accommodation within the State because the footprint is reducing according as numbers reduce. We are looking at how we can share the space. I might have said 88 million sq. m, but I should correct myself. We released 88,000 sq. m, which is 1 million sq. ft. All Departments have been very supportive. Since 2009 Departments have been moving up in space. We have been moving into the owned estate and we surrender leases where we can. That has meant people are now occupying less space. As a public sector reform steering group we are asking what that will mean for the future.

How should we measure office accommodation for the future? How should we allocate space? As the Comptroller and Auditor General said earlier with regard to savings on the procurement service, much of this is about gathering data and information on our existing estate and asking how we can best use it. I would like to prioritise funding for the future by spending money on retrofitting space so that we can increase densities and surrender other space. I hope that is reflective of what we are planning but in regard to this, it would have been what were the norms at the time.