Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am responding to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy O'Donovan. I thank Senator Ward for raising the issue, which is rather ironic, allowing for the fact that I also grew up at the opposite end of Rochestown Avenue. I must make that declaration of interest. I well know the two buildings to which the Senator refers. He makes some very valid points in his contribution about them and their role within the community.

The OPW has responsibility on behalf of the State for managing and maintaining a substantial and complex estate, comprising approximately 2,500 properties valued at €3.3 billion in total. This extensive and diverse portfolio of State properties includes office accommodation for all Departments, the property estate for An Garda Síochána and numerous properties for State agencies. The portfolio also encompasses specialised spaces such as public offices, laboratories and cultural institutions, in addition to warehouses, heritage properties, visitor centres and sites. In any major portfolio, there will always be a certain level of vacant properties. It is normal to have an amount of space vacant, or vacant properties, at any given time, as the portfolio could not function without the flexibility that it provides. Not all vacant properties will be deemed surplus to the State's requirements or deemed suitable for disposal.

The OPW has actively pursued its disposal policy in recent years. From 2014 to 2021, the OPW has disposed of 128 surplus properties, generating an income in excess of €22 million. The disposal programme will continue throughout 2022 and 2023 for 99 currently surplus properties, with three auctions already planned. The OPW, by default, consults with local authorities, the HSE, Departments, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and other State bodies in relation to any vacant building or site that is surplus to its requirements.The purpose of the consultation with other State bodies is to ascertain a State use or public interest in advance of a decision to sell on the open market. Over the past number of years, the OPW has facilitated a number of property disposals to other public bodies to help meet challenges in the housing area in particular. If no State use is identified, the OPW considers if open market disposal is an option, depending on prevailing market conditions. Alternatively, the OPW may consider community involvement, subject to a detailed submission that demonstrates that the community or voluntary group seeking to use the property has the means to insure, maintain and manage it in order to reduce costs to the Exchequer. As part of An Garda Síochána's 2012 rationalisation programme, the former Garda station at Dalkey closed on 30 June 2012. From 2014 to 2018, the OPW entered into a pilot guardianship project with Camelot Properties for both the Dalkey and Kill of the Grange properties. In 2019 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council expressed an interest in acquiring the former Garda station property, a protected structure, for social housing. The council carried out an inspection in late 2019 and subsequently advised the OPW that the property did not meet its requirements, taking account of the substantial costs required to repurpose the property. The OPW received a request in October 2020 to facilitate the housing of Syrian refugees in the property. As the property had already been assessed for housing by the local authority and deemed unsuitable, the OPW was unable to accede to this request. As no alternative State requirement has been identified, the OPW plans to dispose of the property. The registration process is currently being progressed with a view to placing the property on the open market for disposal.

Similarly, the former Garda station at Kill of the Grange closed on 29 April 2013 and a pilot guardianship project was entered into with Camelot Properties in 2014. In 2019 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council expressed an interest in acquiring the former Garda station property under Department of Public Expenditure and Reform circulars. The OPW requested the Valuation Office to conduct a valuation of the property on 13 February 2020, which was received on 19 November 2020. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council formally advised the OPW in September 2021 that the council wished to proceed with the acquisition of the property and confirmed this in February 2022. The Chief State Solicitor's Office has prepared contracts for sale and the OPW and the council are working to complete the transfer in the coming months.