Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in this morning and for the presentation. I thank them and all the civil servants across all Departments, as well as all the people working in the public service for their contribution, particularly in these challenging times.

I came across a property owned by the Department of Justice and Equality that was vacant for 20 years and nobody knew it existed. It was a dwelling house in Blarney. When I did a Land Registry search I found a large number of properties registered under one folio stretching from Castletownbere to Mitchelstown. I did not know whether anybody in the Department knew these properties existed. This speaks to the question of fixed asset registers. Where are we with Departments owning properties, especially smaller examples like this in rural areas? There may be old Garda stations that are no longer used or other properties that are not in use in towns and cities. How comprehensive is the register we currently have of assets in the State?