Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure I agree on how comprehensive the reply is, to be honest. Obviously the Department has set out the basis on which these buildings are repurposed and disposed of. It does not account for the glacial pace at which it is done. The people who live in Dalkey and Kill of the Grange are entitled to expect that these significant buildings in their areas, in the case of Dalkey an historic building, are properly repurposed. It should not take a decade to do that. It should not be the case that I ask this question and now we are told that the Chief State Solicitor's Office, CSSO, is preparing contracts. This is something that should happen as a matter of course. In the course of the Minister of State's response, the suggestion that the OPW has done this for 128 properties over the course of seven years is not something to trumpet as progress. It takes far too long. These are valuable, beautiful buildings in the centre of suburban areas that could absolutely be used tomorrow if the Department was willing to move and to facilitate their sale or whatever it might be. However, the people who live in these areas should not have to live next to vacant, essentially derelict, buildings, when they have perfectly good purposes available to them. I thank the Minister of State for attending. I appreciate the clarity of his answer on one level, but I also feel it is slightly frustrating for people living in the areas.