Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State may know, I have the greatest respect for the Office Public Works and it does great work. There is a bigger policy decision here for every government as to the type of policy they will adopt in encouraging important entities of the State to rent or purchase. A clear message has been given here that it is cheaper to build in capital terms over a period.

Of course, I agree with the Minister of State that in the short term one sometimes needs to lease or rent. I have no problem with that but not when it is lost, like it was in Galway, where, as I mentioned, the property was rented for €1 million a year. I can think of many other buildings that are rented across the board. Perhaps the Office Public Works is doing better. I do not know, because I do not have the profile of all of the other buildings. For instance, in Galway, the city library is rented for as long as I can remember. That is completely daft. I am talking here about a policy. The OPW now has less space now with more staff, as I understand it, but we also have the blended work environment.

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