Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 November 2025

Public Accounts Committee

Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts 2024
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2024
Chapter 5 - Development of a Proposed National Science Centre
Chapter 6 - The OPW's Management of Office Accommodation

2:00 am

Mr. John Conlon:

No, I do not, and I am not gaslighting and not making a virtue of this. I am trying to be factual. In relation to the portfolio of buildings we have, the Civil Service and Government services have grown exponentially in recent years, far more than the square metreage we have, so we are reducing the square metreage per occupant in our buildings and trying to be as effective as we can.

In relation to occupancies, these are done on spot checks. For example,there are often fewer people in buildings on Fridays. We are trying to get our client Departments to use their occupancy across the five days rather than having everybody in on the same three days and so on. We are trying to work on that. Blended working has made a big difference in recent years.

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