Results 2,641-2,660 of 10,778 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: That audit has been done. I contest that all of them would have another use. Depending on the circumstances, some would be more expensive than others. In a situation where we need houses to accommodate people, it is unforgivable that a State body cannot get traction from local authorities to take them over. We do not want to auction properties that are quite suitable. There is every...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not disagree. Those sentiments are my sentiments. It has been very frustrating for us that all over the country the route for these properties has been either through local community groups or public auction. As I said, there is a lack of engagement by some local authorities. We will make available to the committee a spreadsheet of everything that has been done in the last two years,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: To take that last point first, unfortunately in Ireland we now have our own migrants who have been displaced from their houses thanks to the advent of climate change and flooding. These are people living in County Roscommon in Lough Funshinagh. They have not had the scheme delivered that we all thought would be delivered and in some cases they had to move out of their houses and the houses...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Deputy is right about Springfield. This was done well ahead of schedule and it is a very important piece of infrastructure that will protect a lot of houses down there. Cloonlara was one of those places that was synonymous with the terrible winter floods every year. The scheme is more or less complete. We hope to hand it over to Clare County Council early in the spring, as we did with...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: These people think that it is worth noting that so and so "waz here". Nobody wants to know that they were and would prefer if they were not there in the first place. We want to have these places open and available to people as these are the public's assets. All of our keyholders are local people around the country. For a really small amount of remuneration they do a huge public service in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Before Christmas I made a similar visit to the Netherlands with regard to flooding and the Office of Public Works. I would put it down to one word in the Netherlands, and it will become the same word here, "survival". No-one objects to the work that the Dutch authorities do through the Rijkswaterstaat. No one objects to the maintenance programme, the rehabilitation of sand dunes or...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: There is a fundamental question for our European colleagues around what it is that we are trying to protect. Notwithstanding the importance of making sure that there is proper biodiversity, habitats and heritage designation, what is it that we want? In the face of huge catastrophe for the world, all the great and the good went, as part of COP27, to the middle of the desert and spent a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: We have very much engaged with Kilkenny County Council, as the Chairman will know. Graiguenamanagh is the first one and, hopefully, there will be planning in August 2023 and completion in 2027. Ballyhale is at planning and there are compulsory purchase order, CPO, issues with Kilkenny County Council. The remainder of the schemes at Freshford, Pilltown, Inistioge and Thomastown are in the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Chairman is right about the extensive damage because 30 properties and two businesses were flooded, and there was a lot of land and infrastructural damage. The OPW is in discussions with Kilkenny County Council to see if there is some way to move the scheme forward. Kilkenny County Council is due to deliver its report to the Office of Public Works and we expect that shortly.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Both schemes are in the second tranche and are under discussion at the moment with the county council.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: It goes back to the earlier part of the meeting that we had with regard to Donegal. These are all important projects for the Office of Public Works. When CFRAM was identified initially, those with the greatest level of risk were put into the first tranche of the delivery programme. In conjunction with the advices that were given by the local authorities at the time, and having regard to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: They qualify for consideration under the minor works scheme. If there is a viable option to prevent a property from being flooded, we do not care who owns that property. The way the metric works is that, the more properties that are impacted, the greater the business case. Notwithstanding that, if a property, and particularly a residential property, is being impacted, the local authority...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Yes. If the local authority executive engineer wants to engage with our officials at a regional level to do some early scoping out, that can be looked at.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: No. For instance, we took on Annes Grove in County Cork a couple of years ago and have since developed it and opened it up as a very important attraction for east Cork, for the south-east region as a whole and for Ireland's Ancient East. I am delighted that one of our sites that is local to the Chairman, Kilkenny Castle, was voted best visitor attraction in Ireland. I pay tribute to all of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Yes. It is a magnificent site. It is absolutely fabulous. There are permanent guides there. However, its proximity to Kilkenny suggests that the numbers visiting should be far bigger. There is an opportunity, particularly in a county like Kilkenny, for villages to draw off the centre where there are OPW sites. We will work with any such villages. I do not have the number in front of me...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: We will certainly help any organisation that wants to reach out to us. We have already done so. I chaired community meetings in Quin, County Clare, in Kinsale, County Cork, and on the Aran Islands with the comharchumann out there with regard to how the local community can maximise the potential of whatever the OPW owns in their communities, whether that is Dún Aonghasa, Charles Fort or...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Yes, the P and P campaign.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: Is the Chair asking about pooper scoopers?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am not sure but I will find out for the Chairman. With regard to the signage, the OPW has a new livery and we are going to do a signage replacement programme across the estate. Some of the signage dates back to the time of Dúchas, so it is outdated and needs to be updated. With my other hat on, I will note that all signs must be bilingual. In my opinion, the less you put on a sign,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (22 Feb 2023)

Patrick O'Donovan: We will get back to the Chair on that.