Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to appear before the committee to present the 2022 Revised Estimate for the Office of Public Works. The gross allocation for 2022 is just shy of €597 million, which comprises €143 million for flood risk management and €454 million to be invested in estate management.

Given the recent easing of restrictions by Government, I pay tribute to the staff of the Office of Public Works who maintained a full service for client Departments and the public during the pandemic. Parks and heritage sites provided much-needed relief from the restrictions and the building and engineering services allowed Departments and local authorities to continue to deliver critical functions throughout the pandemic. The OPW now stands ready to move forward in 2022 and I will now set out the investment priorities for the coming year.

The structure of the OPW Vote remains unchanged. However, in line with the Government’s infrastructure investment programme of €165 billion under the National Development Plan 2021 to 2030, the OPW Vote has seen a 30% increase in its capital allocation. This funding will contribute to the ambitious plan for a greener, more efficient, connected Ireland as part of our climate goal to cut emissions by 50% by 2030.

While the OPW funding allocations, projects and scope of work continue to expand, the two main strategic programmes of work on flood risk management and estate management have grown in parallel. Since I last addressed this committee, the threat of climate change has been reinforced at events such as COP26. It is clear the State needs to introduce measures to decarbonise but it also needs to introduce measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change. As I have highlighted regularly, Ireland is an island and the sea is rising around us. This is one of our greatest risks.

Under its flood risk management brief, the Office of Public Works continues to co-ordinate Ireland’s whole-of-government approach to managing Ireland’s flood risk from rivers and the sea, the primary source of Ireland’s flood risk. The OPW's core objective is to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the impact of flooding to the families and businesses in those communities known to be at significant risk from flooding. I have seen at first hand the damage flooding can cause.

The flood risk management plans launched in May 2018 give evidence to support the Government’s investment in flood risk management over the lifetime of the national development plan. This investment supports the progression of some 150 flood relief schemes. As Deputies know, delivering flood relief schemes is a very complex process, involving the following distinct stages: understanding the source and extent of flooding, identifying the preferred option to protect at-risk areas, securing the relevant consents and planning permissions, and constructing the scheme. Throughout all stages, public consultation and detailed assessments of the environmental impacts are key to informing a flood relief scheme for a community.

Tomorrow, I will be visiting Bantry, County Cork, for the contract signing to appoint engineering and environmental consultants to progress a flood relief scheme for the town to protect 198 properties.

The prioritisation of schemes means work is now under way to protect 80% of at-risk properties with proposed solutions for the other 20%. Flood risk projects require expert input and knowledge from engineers in hydrology. As we progress future schemes, the Office of Public Works will continue to make the most efficient use of all available resources, including these specialised and limited personnel.

One of the greatest challenges to Ireland’s flood risk comes from climate change. In designing and building all our schemes, provision is made to ensure schemes can meet the risk posed by climate change. The Office of Public Works assessment of that risk is fully supported by the evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Outside these major schemes, local authorities can address local flooding issues through funding from the OPW’s minor floods mitigation works and coastal protection scheme. This provides 90% of the funding required by local authorities and, since 2009, has protected some 7,500 properties.

In addition to the major and minor flood relief schemes, the allocation of €143 million to flood risk management in 2022 will allow the Office of Public Works to maintain some 11,500 km of channels and 800 km of embankments as part of its statutory maintenance duties. This maintenance provides drainage outfall to 650,000 acres of agricultural lands and a level of protection from flooding to urban areas and critical infrastructure, including some 20,000 properties.

The second major OPW programme, estate management, continues to fund the design, upkeep and modernisation of a significant number of properties within the State’s property portfolio. These include heritage sites, Civil Service office accommodation for all Departments, An Garda Síochána and many State agencies. In all, the OPW manages more than 2,500 properties on behalf of the State, which include some of Ireland’s most significant heritage properties, monuments, gardens and arboreta. Properties range from Leinster House to Sceilg Mhichíl and office buildings. This management role includes the curation and presentation of 30 major historic properties and 700 national monuments as well as the State’s art collection, artefacts, plants and trees. This work makes a significant contribution to the health, enjoyment and well-being of the public, particularly in recent times and for which the OPW is quite rightly recognised.

I was especially pleased with the impact of the Government decision to waive entry fees to heritage sites in 2021. Indications are approximately 8.5 million people visited our sites throughout the country over the past 12 months. The initiative has reignited an appreciation for our heritage assets and refocused the idea of staycations. This year the Office of Public Works will continue to be instrumental in the State commemorations marking the decade of centenaries with many events at OPW-managed sites, including the recent commemoration event at Dublin Castle, which was a tremendous success.

In 2022, Office of Public Works heritage sites will play a key role in the return of Ireland’s tourism economy particularly with the opening to the public for the first time of Annes Grove gardens in north Cork and newly refurbished visitor exhibitions at the Blasket Centre in Kerry and Céide Fields in Mayo.

In the context of office accommodation, the OPW is charged with designing the workplace of the future for the Civil Service. It aims to deliver accommodation that allows more agile ways of working to meet our future needs. Across 890,000 sq. m of office accommodation, the OPW continues to undertake the maintenance and constant updating of a diverse and complex portfolio of accommodation.

Deputies will be aware that, as a consequence of Brexit, physical infrastructure is required for customs, social protection services and health check controls at Dublin Port, Rosslare Europort and Dublin Airport. The Office of Public Works, on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Health and the Department of Transport, has delivered infrastructure at these ports and airports in the past two years. The OPW will continue this important work in 2022. The additional allocation of €1.8 million in current resources will progress the project at Rosslare Europort under a new subhead funded by the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

A gross sum allocation of €454 million has been provided for estate management within the 2022 Revised Estimate. A total of €64 million of this has been allocated as part of the EU national recovery and resilience plan. This funding was made available to Ireland to contribute to climate action projects. This will ensure the Office of Public Works is well positioned to continue to contribute towards Europe’s climate and energy objectives and support the recovery of the tourism sector and the wider economy. Protecting the environment is at the heart of everything the OPW does in all aspects of our work, whether that be maintaining our national heritage sites or arterial drainage works.

I have only referred to a small section of the work of the OPW. It goes without saying the scale and complexity of the OPW’s responsibilities in the delivery of its two infrastructural programmes have a considerable impact nationwide and are dependent on its people. The nature of the work of the OPW requires the input of a dedicated team of professional, technical and administrative staff, working in multidisciplinary teams, across a wide range of property management and engineering functions. The roles cover professional managers, valuers, architects, engineers, mechanical and electrical specialists, surveyors, planners, financial advisers, property economists and project managers, supplemented by various other specialists as required. These staff play a vital role in protecting, promoting and sustaining rural and urban areas.

I can say with confidence that the OPW stands ready to deliver key programmes for Government as outlined in 2022. I would be happy to take any questions on the OPW’s Revised Estimate requirements for 2022.