Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I understand. Consider the question Deputy McDonald mentioned about savings on the rent roll and so on that arose from the contraction during the recession. The problem is that, as a member of this committee, I am in no position to offer an opinion on them. I do not know how many State buildings are only partially occupied. I do not know whether a future Chairman of this committee will, in a number of years' time after numbers begin increasing again, claim that the State surrendered a great building at €7 per sq. ft. and will then have to pay €13 per sq. ft. to accommodate the growing numbers. Does Ms McGrath know what I mean? I take her at her word, and on the credibility of the OPW, that it is doing the best that it can to manage the estate efficiently. Reverting to the point on accountability, which is what I believed we were about, neither Deputy McDonald nor I are in a position to say whether the OPW could have saved more than €111 million in rent or that there was imprudent decision making based on targets that were right during the recession but will not be right in two years' time.