Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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619. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 349 and 350 of 24 June 2025, the breakdown of the number of years and months each building has been in this ‘current status’; the breakdown of the year each building’s current status last changed; the average number of years and months a building has been “being prepared for disposal”, broken down by property type; the breakdown of the longest time a building’s has been “being prepared for disposal”, broken down by property type; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44944/25]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW), like other State bodies, is obliged to follow central Government policies on the disposal of surplus properties and the arrangements involved are set out in the following Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) 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

Secondly, if no 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.

The policy of the OPW is that a property will only be disposed of when it has been established with absolute certainty that there is no alternative State requirement for it with the initial phase of the disposal process focusing on identifying an alternative State use for each vacant and surplus property.

The OPW circulates details of surplus and vacant properties to the following bodies, so that they can be assessed for suitability for social or humanitarian housing purposes or for other State use:

• The Land Development Agency
• The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• The Department of Children, Disability and Equality
• The relevant Local Authority

Disposals Process

As individual departments and bodies require time to consider each building or site; to ascertain if the property meets their requirements and if the necessary funds would be available to finance an acquisition, this can be a lengthy process.

Should a State body express an interest in a building or site under DPER Circular 11/2015, the Protocols stipulate that Tailte Éireann should determine the current market value of the property and that this valuation is binding on both parties.

If it is confirmed that the interested body wishes to proceed with the acquisition at the current market value, the conveyancing process commences which is often a complex and protracted process.

This process entails numerous complicated legal procedures such as title, boundary and planning investigations. Issues associated with the title to the property; boundary disputes, mapping errors, encroachments or adverse possession claims, are often discovered on foot of these multi-faceted investigations.

The resolution of these issues can involve third parties and separate legal procedures, resulting in significant delays in preparing the associated properties for disposal.

In the OPW, the term "being prepared for disposal" generally refers to the stage where a property is no longer required for operational purposes and is undergoing the necessary steps as detailed above to enable its sale, transfer, or other form of disposal.

This label has been applied to a number of long-term vacant properties. While these properties are not in operational use, many are not actively at the disposal-preparation stage due to factors such as ongoing consideration for alternative State use, legal/title complexities, resource constraints or strategic sequencing of disposals.  As such, the current categorisation does not fully reflect their actual status. 

For illustrative purposes, 139 former Garda station properties closed in 2012/2013 of which 72 have been disposed generating income of €11 million for the Exchequer (see summary table below). 

20 properties remain and are labelled ‘being prepared for disposal or alternative State use’.  These properties will be reviewed in line with the aforementioned Circulars and policies as resources allow and subject to title/conveyancing matters but it is envisaged that they will be disposed of within an expected target date by the end of 2026.

However it should be noted as conveyancing of properties can be complex, time consuming and resource dependent and may result in some of the cases not concluding during a calendar year.