Ms Clare McGrath:

I am chair of the property asset management reform agenda, and we are examining the establishment of a property register of the estate of the State so we could avoid the State having to acquire land or property in the future. Regard will be given to the overall estate of the State and whether decisions can be made in regard to the register of where property in the State is sourced. We have used that for Cork County Council and Fingal County Council, where we now have protocols and are sharing accommodation or making our property available to other public bodies or they are making their property available to us.

We are doing that under new protocols, involving single valuations agreed by the Valuation Office and single legal advices, in order that the procurement of assets for the State is done in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. It is something about which we are concerned. We are an organisation which has a lot of responsibility around office accommodation. Our footprint has fallen by upwards of €30 million in rent annually. Other public bodies also have office accommodation and through this new system we are looking to see how we can extract further value, in particular where we are leasing accommodation, and share accommodation.

We are going into properties which local authorities have and they may share property we have. We are driving efficiency on the State's footprint into the future. The protocols have been established with a view to intra-State property transactions being done as effectively as possible between public bodies in the interests of the public purse.