Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak specifically to my own area of responsibility, namely, the Office of Public Works, OPW, which has three main focuses: heritage services, flood risk management and estate management. As an organisation, the OPW provides a wide spectrum of essential services and has largely continued to function in many areas during this period. The OPW has implemented considerable business continuity measures throughout the various phases of restrictions to ensure that services deemed essential to the public, including Departments and local authorities, could continue during a shutdown of workplaces. Throughout this period, a wide network of regional offices has continued to maintain the safe and ongoing operation of up to 2,000 public service buildings, where, in turn, essential services in health, social welfare and other areas have been provided to the public. Drainage maintenance services in our workplaces across the country continue to implement work plans during the optimal maintenance season and have minimised the impact of restrictions on much critical seasonal work.

As regards construction and maintenance works under both the flooding and property management programmes, many of the services and contract works, while initially stalled, have continued and recovered to original timelines and profiled budgets. The safe operation of construction sites for major capital projects was achieved in partnership with contractors from 18 May, when the Government allowed for the return of critical projects, and many have recovered to their original delivery timeframes. This has all been facilitated by more than 1 ,000 staff within the OPW who have been successfully set up to operate from home. Gradually, these staff are now returning to the workplace, which has been made safe for their return through the installation of measures to comply with physical distancing and a secure place to work.

The OPW was also very pleased to be able to play a critical role in advising other Departments and offices across the public service on how to safely return to the workplace. Through a series of well-received webinars and meetings, the OPW reached out to several hundred officials to provide advice and support on the issue of returning to the workplace. My office was also centrally involved in the provision of expert advice on enabling major contractors to also return to critical and strategically important building sites across the country, thus ensuring an efficient and rapid upscaling in economic activity.

The OPW has also worked closely with the HSE, An Garda Síochána and other front-line agencies to assist them in issues relating to the provision of emergency property solutions. This continuity of service has been facilitated and achieved through risk management and business continuity plans for each business area, delivered within an overall Covid-19 response plan for the office, which is a living document reviewed on an ongoing basis in consultation with OPW managers and workers, while constantly being steered by the Government's Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business. The plans will now be adapted to align with measures in the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with Covid-19 document, which was published this week.

An assessment of the business impact of Covid-19 continues across the main work programmes of the OPW. However, with the co-operation of staff and contractors, the impact on financial outturns and work output has largely been minimised in 2020, which in turn has ensured a continuity of services within the wider economy.

Within the heritage estate, many of the visitor sites had to close for a period, yet access to parks and outside areas was an important facility available to the public during the restrictions and included dedicated space and time for many people who were required to cocoon in recent months. I am pleased that most visitor sites have adapted to the new requirements and are now safely open to the public. They will continue to play an important role in the recovery of the tourism industry and will be a much needed recreational facility for the public in the period to come. The value of the heritage sector has never been more apparent. It is a tremendous asset for the people that is protected, presented and maintained by the OPW. In support of this, I announced an initiative that waives admission charges to many OPW heritage sites as part of the Government's July stimulus package, in an effort to encourage domestic tourism and support the tourism economy.

The OPW has now moved to considering the role we can play in the ongoing recovery. I welcome the provision of an additional €10 million funding from the Government under the recent economic stimulus programme, which will allow for the acceleration of well-distributed work programmes of essential works at Government-occupied buildings and heritage properties.

Widespread restrictions are difficult on us all, individually and as a society. Together, we need to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread from person to person. We need to do this individually and collectively so that we can continue to prioritise protecting the most vulnerable, our healthcare system and our education services. Over the coming months, our objective is to suppress the virus to the lowest possible level in order that we can continue our lives to the greatest possible level.

As Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, I note that this building is maintained by OPW staff, as are all other Department buildings. I acknowledge the contributions they have made during a very difficult time, as well as those of staff in Leinster House and the Ceann Comhairle. OPW staff often go unnoticed in a very quiet way in the maintenance of this and other public buildings and they have kept the cogs of the State turning at the same time.

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