Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Public Works has carried out an exercise to benchmark the rent it pays for buildings to the rent paid for similar buildings by the private sector; his views on the ability to reduce the rental bill incurred by the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36850/11]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The Office of Public Works constantly benchmarks the rent it pays against rent paid for similar buildings in the private sector. Property consultants CBRE were commissioned in 2008 to benchmark OPW rental performance against market outcomes. The consultants found that overall, OPW are achieving comparable value for money. OPW has adopted a twin track approach to reducing the annual rent bill:(a) rationalisation of the leasehold portfolio through targeted surrenders of leases and (b) pro-active pursuit of reductions at rent reviews, notwithstanding "upward only" review provisions in leases.

Under the property rationalisation programme, leases surrendered in 2010 resulted in a reduction of €8.75 million in annual rental value. Leases surrendered so far this year will achieve an annual rental value saving of €3.17million. Rent reductions in 2010-2011 to date, achieved by negotiation, reduced the annual rental bill by a further €2.75 million. The rent reduction strategy and the property rationalisation programme will continue to be rolled out in the next 3 years and will be regularly reviewed and adjusted to achieve maximum savings in the annual rental bill.