Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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100. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the action taken in response to the contents of a report dated 31 March 2014 by a group of persons (details supplied) entitled Property and Accountability, which is available on the website of his Department, and which concerns the problem of accountability within the Office of Public Works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24385/15]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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101. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in view of the contents of a report dated 31 March 2014 by a group of persons (details supplied) entitled Property and Accountability which is available on the website of his Department, if he is satisfied that his Department is adequately resourced to keep track of the annual budget it delivers to the Office of Public Works; if he is satisfied that his Department has the capability to see that the annual budget delivered to the Office of Public Works is handled in a commercially accountable fashion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24386/15]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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102. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in view of the contents of a report dated 31 March 2014 by a group of persons (details supplied) entitled Property and Accountability which is available on the website of his Department, his plans to provide for sanctions to be imposable against the Commissioners of Public Works in response to incidents of incompetence, misappropriation of resources and corruption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24387/15]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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103. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in view of the contents of a report dated 31 March 2014 by a group of persons (details supplied) entitled Property and Accountability which is available on the website of his Department, if he has implemented, or plans to implement, an increase in the degree to which professional services and advice are sought in respect of transactions involving the Office of Public Works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24388/15]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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104. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in view of the contents of a report dated 31 March 2014 by a group of persons (details supplied) entitled Property and Accountability which is available on the website of his Department, his plans to split the Office of Public Works from his Department, and place it on a semi-State footing; his plans to provide the Comptroller and Auditor General with a dedicated monitoring property professional; his plans to make the Office of Public Works and its staff more accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24389/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 to 104, inclusive, together.

My Department is responsible for policy advice on the allocation of public funds across each area of Government spending and for ensuring that overall expenditure is managed in line with such allocations. However, the day-to day operations of individual Departments/Offices are the responsibility of those Departments/Offices.

The Commissioners of Public Works are charged by Government to administer and manage a significant property portfolio for the State. This is conducted in an environment of changing market forces, time constraints and the requirements for the delivery of critical State services. I have full confidence in the Commissioners and their ability to discharge their statutory functions and responsibilities in this regard. The Deputy is aware that the OPW is subject to the same accountability process involving the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) of the Dáil as other Government Departments and Offices.

Property Asset Management reform is an important element of the Government's overall Public Service Reform Plan and the OPW has been assigned as the lead agency in delivering on this programme. The key objective of this reform agenda is to improve the management of the State's property portfolio in an even more professional, coordinated and efficient manner that realises value for money and facilitates business needs and service provision across the Public Service. The Government agreed a range of measures to realise the benefits of better property management and these are set out in "Accommodating Change Measuring Success", the Government's Property Asset Management Delivery Plan, which was published in July 2013. A copy of the Delivery Plan is available on www.opw.ie. A progress report on the implementation of this plan will be published before the end of July.

My Department has fully supported the OPW in the implementation of this strategy through:

1. its participation on the Steering Group on Property Asset Management;  and

2. sanctioning the filling of posts considered essential to address issues identified in the Capacity and Capability Review of the OPW's Estate Portfolio Management function conducted in 2013-14 by external experts.

In addition, this Government has sought to introduce greater openness, transparency and accountability through the Public Service Reform and Civil Service Renewal programmes. It was in this context that I established the Independent Panel on Strengthening Civil Service Accountability and Performance, to which the two OPW surveyors made their submission. The submission indicated that, in property transactions, the potential for corruption exists if effective governance arrangements are not present and it sought an increase in the number of professionals in the property management area in the Civil Service.

I understand that the OPW has engaged with its surveyors in a positive and constructive manner on the issues raised in their submission. While the surveyors did not identify any instances of "corrupt actions", they did make reference to a number of property transactions going back over many years about which they had concerns. The surveyors have been asked by the OPW to review these projects in more detail and any issues arising will be referred to the C&AG for review. The surveyors involved are fully engaged in this process.