Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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As Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, OPW, and flood relief , I am pleased to be here today to consider the 2016 Estimate and undertake a mid-year review of outputs and expenditure relating to the OPW Vote for the current financial year. I will also summarise the OPW’s emerging position on the 2017 Estimate requirements in advance of the allocations being finalised for budget 2017.

In order to assist the committee, members have been provided with an explanatory note setting out a short description of the spend areas in the OPW Vote, expenditure incurred to date on subheads in 2016, output information relating to each spending area and the emerging Estimate requirements for 2017.

Expenditure to the end of May 2016 is €128.984 million out of a total allocation of €391.526 million this year. This represents 34% of the gross current allocation and 30% of the capital allocation to date which is an expenditure trend consistent with previous years. While there is some variance from profiled spend on a subhead basis, the two main programmes of expenditure are projected to be on target by year end. Some reallocation of funds on the estate portfolio management side may be necessary to facilitate strategic property acquisitions in 2016.

In terms of 2017 requirements, my officials have confirmed to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that the Vote 13 allocation is deemed sufficient to fulfil the existing level of service commitments on a no-policy-change basis. This confirmation is subject to allocation adjustments on a subhead basis being made within the overall OPW Vote allocation. In particular, an increase on the current allocation will be required to ensure the resources are in place for the delivery of the flood risk management programme within the ten year timeframe committed to by the Government. I am particularly determined that the delivery of this programme is prioritised in the coming years. Additional projects or services from within the programme for partnership Government or on foot of other policy initiatives will be separately resourced. Some of these proposals are under discussion with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as part of the Estimates process.

The OPW Vote has two main expenditure areas which may be impacted by policy changes, the first of which is flood risk management. The Government has demonstrated its support for flood relief by committing €430 million to flood risk management within the 2016 to 2021 capital investment plan. I am satisfied that this represents sufficient funding to progress flood protection works and the OPW is currently undertaking the required staff recruitment programme to ensure the capacity is in place to facilitate its delivery. I do not need to revisit the difficulties caused by flooding which have recently been experienced by communities across the country, including in Roscommon in the last week. However, I can assure the committee that the key actions and activities necessary to protect communities from flood risk in the years ahead are being addressed not just in the OPW, but across all State bodies with a role to play in flood protection.

In terms of output to date in 2016, progress on flood risk management continues to be a challenge for the OPW. Long lead-in times to bring these complex engineering infrastructure projects to commencement stage are necessary.

Unforeseen technical design issues, archeological and environmental difficulties, public consultation and procurement challenges are elements which can impact on the delivery timeframe. Despite this, I have asked my officials to explore every avenue possible to advance schemes as quickly as possible and I am confident the target outputs and expenditure projections for 2016 are set to be delivered.

In terms of output measurement, the key purpose of this programme is to ensure that the risks associated with flooding and the impacts identified in climate change are considered and appropriate plans to investigate flood risk are put in place. The overall outcome is to reduce the risk of river and coastal flooding to homes and businesses and to ensure appropriate flood risk information for planning in Ireland. The setting of demonstrative performance targets in this area is difficult but is currently being summarised under two outcome measures: the annual and cumulative number of additional properties benefiting from flood relief works; and the annual and cumulative value of benefit to properties - damage or loss avoided in economic terms.

It can be reported that schemes are continuing at Claregalway, Bray and on the River Dodder and this year will see the completion of the schemes at Ennis lower, Waterford and south Campshires in Dublin. Contracts have recently been placed for works to commence at Bandon and Skibbereen and I am pleased that works will commence this year at Templemore in Tipperary, Foynes in Limerick and Dunkellin in County Galway.

In terms of progress not covered by tangible output measures, there has also been recent progress on other fronts. The interdepartmental flood policy co-ordination group has a significant role to play in a whole of government approach to addressing flood risk. One of my first and early tasks was to convene a further meeting of the interdepartmental flood policy co-ordination group, which was held on 2 June 2016 to get an update on the progress being made towards a report for Government on a range of flood risk management initiatives. This group is looking at a range of policy issues, including insurance, community resilience, individual property protection, a national flood forecasting and warning service, a review of the planning and development guidelines and if necessary, voluntary home relocation. I will be finalising the report of the group for Government shortly, in conjunction with the completion of the draft flood risk management plans.

The Government has also established the Shannon flood risk State agency co-ordination working group to enhance co-operation across the State agencies with a statutory remit on the River Shannon. This group is comprised of the State agencies involved with the River Shannon and comes under the chairmanship of the Office of Public Works. The group has met on three occasions to date and has conducted an audit of the roles and responsibilities of State agency organisations and has published its Shannon flood risk work programme for 2016. This programme, which is available on the OPW website, sets out co-ordinated actions and activities for the Shannon catchment. The group has agreed a process for wider consultation, including with non-statutory bodies, and has held a series of open days on the group's work programme. The group is also considering the development of appropriate guidance in consultation with the Attorney General's office that will set out more clearly the rights and responsibilities of non-statutory bodies in relation to watercourses. The working group will hold its next meeting in July to consider the Shannon catchment flood risk assessment management, CFRAM, plans.

The CFRAM programme has produced a comprehensive suite of flood maps for each area for further assessment, AFA, which identifies the risk in those areas for flooding events of varying severity, ranging from frequent events, such as those we might see every couple of years, up to extreme events that might not be seen for generations. The programme is now looking at all possible options to address flood risk in each AFA and, where possible, has identified viable structural and non-structural flood risk management measures to manage or reduce the flood risk within the AFAs and within each river catchment as a whole. The identified measures will form the basis of a series of flood risk management plans which set out the medium to long-term strategy and programme of work to achieve the effective and sustainable management of flood risk in Ireland.

The flood maps will contribute directly to the better management of flood risk. These maps have been produced for 300 communities around the country covering 90 coastal areas and nearly 7,000 km of river. Over the coming months the CFRAM programme will publish the draft flood risk management plans with a formal consultation period of not less than three months; complete a further round of public consultation days within the relevant communities to consult locally on the proposals; and prioritise the preferred measures, informed through a multi-criteria analysis, in order to finalise the plans at the end of 2016.

The final plans will then be submitted for approval to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and may then be adopted by the local authorities. It has to be recognised and understood that there will not be a feasible flood risk solution for all properties and the policy response for these properties has to form part of the integrated flood risk policy.

I am confident that the Government's strategy of implementing this suite of measures to manage flood risk will better prepare Ireland to manage the threat of flooding in the future.

The other main programme for my office is estate portfolio management which encompasses the management, maintenance and development of the State's property portfolio. This includes the conservation, protection and presentation of national monuments and national historic properties in State care.

The Office of Public Works has rationalised the State's office accommodation portfolio to reflect the changing numbers in the Civil Service since 2008, surrendering over 300 leases with cumulative savings of over €130 million in that period. With rents now rising, particularly in Dublin, and the demands for accommodation increasing, there are mounting challenges in the rationalisation of properties.

A more strategic approach to the management of State property is being led by my office requiring all State property holders to view public property from a State perspective. The actions identified in the property asset management delivery plan are being achieved through improved co-ordination of property asset management across the public service; increasing the capacity to benchmark building performance through standardised building measurement; and optimising the use of the State's property assets through asset sharing and asset transfer using streamlined protocols.

The OPW continues to meet space requirements through office rationalisation and greater use of open plan, but additional space demands can only be delivered through a combination of the following: new leases of modern offices, investment in older State-owned properties, or the purchase or construction of alternative accommodation.

In order to ensure that the office is well positioned to effectively oversee this ongoing reform area, my officials are currently engaged in a business transformation process on the estate portfolio management function which may impact on 2017 Estimate requirements.

In terms of annual funding, A Programme for a Partnership Government sets out objectives that may generate increased demand for Civil Service office accommodation. There are a number of major developments in planning within this office which will not form part of the existing level of service and these will need to be considered for future years' funding. In addition, the office has commenced planning a substantive body of works over the next five years under a property retrofit programme to allow for the refit of the existing stock of Government accommodation. This will maintain building fabric and optimise the capacity of office buildings within State-owned accommodation. This is necessary to increase utilisation of existing property, in addition to addressing the EU requirements to minimise carbon emissions and carbon footprint by 2018 of public buildings.

It is worth noting that the Office of Public Works has a key role to play in the delivery of services which are not directly funded by the OPW Vote, yet consume resources in their delivery. For example, the OPW manages a comprehensive Garda building programme and in 2015, the Government launched a capital investment plan for An Garda Síochána for 2016-21 which involves the major refurbishment of stations-facilities from both the OPW and the Garda Vote. Three new divisional-regional Garda headquarters, at Kevin Street, Dublin, Wexford and Galway, are currently on site and will be delivered during 2017.

In the heritage area, the Office of Public Works continues to engage with Fáilte Ireland in realising the tourism potential within many of the historic visitor sites which it manages across the entire country.

Guided visitor services are provided at 70 sites nationwide on either a seasonal or a full-time basis. These sites include both nationally and internationally known attractions such as Newgrange, Clonmacnoise, Glendalough, Kilmainham Gaol, etc. They are a key part of Ireland's offering to visitors and meet the needs of particular segments of the international tourist body, such as the free and independent traveller and the culturally curious, which have been identified by Fáilte Ireland as key targets. The agencies are co-operating on the better marketing and presentation of these locations with a view to increasing visitor footfall and introducing certain lesser known sites to the visiting public.

My office and Fáilte Ireland are also co-operating in respect of new tourism potential built on the success of the Wild Atlantic Way, which encompasses a broad range of the OPW's historic sites. In the context of Ireland's Ancient East, the OPW, the former Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Fáilte Ireland have entered into a strategic partnership, aiming to invest in a series of capital works developments over the period 2016 to 2021 which are designed to improve the offering to visitors at a broad range of locations within the historic portfolio.

The OPW heritage service is also responsible for providing a quality event management service and logistical support to other Departments and Government generally. In performing these duties it has been proactively managing and facilitating State events in this decade of commemorations, including this year, the successful 1916 commemorative events. I realise that I have referred to only a small part of the work of the OPW, which has a vast array of responsibilities but if members have any questions on any area of the office's funding or outputs, I will be happy to take them.