Ms Clare McGrath:

The funding for maintenance before 2013 was with the occupier. The building might be held by the OPW, but the funding for maintenance was with the occupier, although we did the work. Since 2013, that money has transferred to us. We now have sight and control of the funding and have moved to a preventative maintenance programme on the estate. Some of what Deputy Fleming is saying is, therefore, beginning to happen. It is like what I said earlier about ownership with the whole of Government estate. The State wants sight of the whole-of-Government estate, but the responsibility and the accountability still rest with the owner of that estate. It is about finding a mechanism to bring this information together. It does exist out there. The Office of Government Procurement is part of that, as is what we are doing here, and every other public body. I see it as being achievable, perhaps in less time, but I am certain that it is the right direction of travel. We will know total cost of occupancy, what we are doing with the State's estate, and where we fit in.

The bigger game will be in the future, if we can get to a point at which, when the State is looking at a site for delivery of a public service, whether national or local, somebody will look through the register and see what estate can be availed of, so that we are not out in the market but optimising the State's estate across all service delivery areas. That does not mean the OPW has to be the entity; it means that every public body that holds estate is looking in and able to tap into other public bodies. This is what we are saying about the property network. We tap in, we are learning from other agencies and we are sharing. We have seen it on the Intreo programme, where local authorities have given us space in their county halls to provide Intreo offices. That meant we did not have to go out into the private sector to source it. We are beginning to see efficiencies in the use of the State's estate and where we have a demand for increased staffing in a particular Department we are able to look to the local authority estate, see what is available on the register and talk to them. There is a greater efficiency in delivery and in the use of the estate.