Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be here. From the Office of Public Works I am joined by Ms Clare McGrath, chairman; Mr. Tony Smyth, director of engineering; and Mr. Michael Long, accountant.

As Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, I am pleased to set out some of the priority programmes of work to be funded from the 2015 Revised Estimate for the OPW.

As members will know, the OPW is responsible for a wide variety of functions, with an overall budget of €397 million in 2015. The principal areas of responsibility reflect two priority areas of the Government's programme - flood risk management and estate portfolio management. Before I address these two areas, I take the opportunity to remind committee members that the funding presented to them today, as part of the Revised Estimate, does not represent the full extent of the OPW's activities. In 2014 the OPW also incurred expenditure on behalf of other Departments and agencies which amounted to some €126 million. The main areas of this expenditure were the provision of schools for the Department of Education and Science, the newly developed national children detention facility in Oberstown for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the delivery of the Intreo programme for the Department of Social Protection and the leasing of accommodation on a repayment basis for numerous Government clients. In addition, the office's professional and technical staff also perform in an advisory capacity across a wide variety of functions which include energy conservation, architectural matters and property management.

On the topic of flood risk management, members of the committee are well aware that the OPW is the lead agency in the management of flood risk in Ireland.It has invested over €400 million in flood risk management measures to provide protection for homes and businesses across the country. Under the framework for capital investment up to 2016, the Government committed €225 million to flood risk management, a substantial capital allocation which is enabling the OPW to continue its flood risk management programme in conjunction with the local authorities. Despite regular reductions in capital funding, the OPW has made every effort to prioritise this area of investment in recent years. A capital allocation of €60 million is provided for the programme in 2015.

In order to implement the State's strategy for flood risk management , the OPW has developed a catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme in recent years. The CFRAM programme lies at the core of the assessment of flood risk management and will allow Ireland to meet its commitments under the EU flood directive. The programme is focused on 300 areas of potentially significant risk. These areas are known as areas for further assessment, AFAs, within the programme. A comprehensive suite of flood maps is being produced for each AFA which will represent a significant addition to and complement the existing flood mapping produced by the OPW. The ongoing programme is looking at all possible options to address flood risk in each AFA and will identify the optimal measures for inclusion in the flood risk management plans to be produced under the programme. Members are probably well aware of this in their constituencies from ongoing consultations on the matter. The programme will set out the medium to long-term strategy and, subject to resources, prioritise a programme of work to achieve the effective and sustainable management of flood risk in Ireland.

For members' information, the current position is that flood maps are being produced by the OPW. It is only through the clear identification of the risk now and in different climate change scenarios in the future that all of the main stakeholders concerned, both nationally and at local level, can work together towards implementation of sustainable measures to manage that risk. In line with this approach in recent years, numerous major flood relief projects are being advanced by the OPW and at various stages of completion. The schemes in Bray, for the River Dodder, in Fermoy, Waterford and Ennis are just some of the ones under construction, with considerable investment committed to in 2015. Many other schemes are at various stages of planning, with a view to starting construction this year.

Many areas of the country, mainly coastal areas, were impacted on during the adverse weather in December 2013 and the early months of 2014. To repair the public infrastructure that was damaged, the Government allocated funding to various Departments, including €19.1 million to the OPW. The chairman of the Office of Public Works wrote to the committee last month providing details of the funding and payments made by the OPW to local authorities in 2014 in respect of damaged coastal protection infrastructure. Provision is included in the 2015 OPW Estimate to meet the storm damage funding allocations which some local authorities were unable to draw down in 2014.

In tandem with its major capital projects, the OPW has provided almost €27 million in funding for local authorities since 2009 to carry out localised minor works where a requirement for such works is identified and they meet the eligibility criteria set out under the scheme. The OPW has established excellent working relationships with the local authorities and this, together with the considerable funding provided for them, has proved to be a key factor in maximising the capacity of the minor works scheme, with approximately 460 projects completed to date under the scheme.

The estate portfolio management programme, on the other side of the Vote, encompasses the management, maintenance and development of the State’s property portfolio, including the conservation, protection and presentation of national monuments and national historic properties in State care. Property represents the second highest administrative cost to the Government in the provision of public services after pay and pensions. The Office of Public Works has been given the considerable task by Government of rationalising the State's property portfolio in order to reduce that cost and reflect the substantial fall in staff numbers across the Civil Service in recent years.

The ownership of State property is legally vested across many State authorities and agencies, which can at times result in an independent approach by each State entity to managing its property portfolio. Changing this approach by legislation to a more centralised model would be an onerous undertaking and thus the Government decided that a collaborative and consistent approach by State property managers in dealing with property would be the most effective manner to progress this particular reform. With this in mind, the Government appointed the Office of Public Works as lead of the steering group on property asset management to co-ordinate and drive this reform.

As protocols for streamlining intra-State use of public service property are being developed within the group, we are already seeing more effective engagement by public property holders. Optimising value for money and the enhanced use of State properties for the public good continue to be pursued through an ongoing property disposal programme and a more streamlined administrative and legal process for the valuation, transfer and sharing of property. Strategic property related decisions are being facilitated by an intra-State property register, developed by the OPW, which is being populated with property data from all State property holders. Ministers have given their full commitment to ensuring their Departments and agencies will co-operate fully. The plan will, over time, promote agreed targets for space allocation per full-time equivalent employee to be achieved by Departments.

From the OPW's perspective, office accommodation was recognised a number of years ago as one area where significant savings could be made. I am glad to update the committee that, since 2008, the OPW has undertaken a major rationalisation programme that has resulted in the surrender of over 1.2 million sq. ft. of office accommodation and yielded a cumulative reduction of over €111 million in rent. In that period the OPW has surrendered 276 leases, with an annual rental value of €34.7 million, while rent reductions were negotiated by the OPW on 121 leases between 2008 and 2014. The annual rental value of reductions achieved is €8.59 million.

The drive to further optimise office space needs to continue and will be facilitated by establishing a revised workplace definition for the public service based on space allocation required for the functions being performed by staff. Departmental accommodation requests will be addressed through examining alternative, flexible modern working practices and encouraging Departments to review records management processes and storage needs in order to optimise space requirements and achieve best value for the money invested.

As part of the project management service provided, the OPW will continue to deliver both major and minor works to a variety of Government clients. This year will see major Garda accommodation projects on site at Wexford and Galway and on Kevin Street in Dublin, while the development of Kilmainham Gaol and courthouse will be completed in time for the commemoration of the 1916 Rising.

In the area of property maintenance the OPW has assumed funding responsibility in recent years for the provision of a shared service for Departments. The funding for works relating to building maintenance of State property to the value of almost €20 million transferred to the OPW in 2013. This allowed the OPW the opportunity to manage maintenance on a prioritised, whole of government basis and initiate a planned preventive maintenance works programme, which will produce savings in the medium term and deliver better care for the fabric of the State's buildings.

Within the area of estate portfolio management, heritage services manage the conservation and presentation of 760 national monuments and 30 national historic properties, with a combined provision of 70 visitor centres across the country. Through targeted presentation by the OPW, visitor numbers to heritage sites have increased by 33% since 2010. The free first Wednesday initiative, for example, has contributed greatly to the increase in visitor numbers. Visitor numbers at staffed heritage sites continue to grow, with 4.4 million visitors recorded in 2014 and multiples of that number visiting open sites around the country. The focus of heritage services in recent years has been on the protection and maintenance of structures, with a greater emphasis on minor improvements works, rather than on major capital projects. Any investment funds available will go to sites most in need and, importantly, to where capacity has been identified that will generate increased business and receipts. The planned reinvestment of surplus receipts generated from creating such additional capacity will support a strong incentive to increase activity at heritage sites and improve business opportunities. It is a key initiative.

On staffing, I am pleased to inform the committee that, after an absence of some years, the OPW has reintroduced the apprenticeship programme. This topic came up at Question Time this morning. The national monuments division has recently recruited 21 apprentices in the crafts of carpentry, joinery and stone masonry. They will be the first participants in the inaugural SOLAS stone curriculum. This is a valuable development in the field of conservation and will maintain and sustain these skills to the benefit of the OPW, the wider State sector and the country into the future. In tandem with this initiative, the OPW continues to demonstrate its commitment to training and work placement through its ongoing programmes that enhance the professional development of professional graduates, while making a contribution to the work of the office.

I acknowledge and highlight the substantial contribution the OPW's staff play in these programmes of work for the State. Since my appointment as Minister of State, I have had the opportunity to experience at first-hand the professionalism of many staff cohorts across the office, ranging from the engineering staff dealing with drainage maintenance and flooding crises in communities to the exceptional guiding staff at heritage sites who are ambassadors for tourism in many parishes and communities. I compliment all staff of the office on their work and ongoing commitment in the challenging environment they continue to face.

I thank committee members and look forward to taking questions they may have.