Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility on behalf of the State for managing and maintaining a substantial and complex estate of approximately 2,500 properties.

This extensive and diverse portfolio of State properties includes office accommodation for all Government Departments, the property estate for An Garda Síochána and numerous properties for many 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 surplus vacant or non-operational 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 suitable for disposal.

The OPW, like other State bodies, is obliged to follow central Government policies on the disposal of surplus vacant properties and the arrangements involved are set out in the following Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDR) Circulars:

• Circular 11/2015: Protocols for the Transfer and Sharing of State Property Assets
• Circular 17/2016: Policy for Property Acquisition and for Disposal of Surplus Property

The OPW’s approach to managing surplus vacant properties is firstly, to establish if the property is required for alternative State use, including the potential for it to be re-purposed for either Government Departments or the wider public service.

In line with the above, the OPW has actively engaged and provided a list of its surplus vacant properties to the Land Development Agency, each relevant local authority, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, so that they could assess them for suitability for social or humanitarian housing purposes or for other State use.

Secondly, if no alternative State use is identified, the OPW considers if open market disposal is an option, depending on prevailing market conditions.

Thirdly, 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 a matter of policy, no property is disposed of until there is absolute certainty that there is no alternative State use for that property.