222. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for a list of vacant and derelict buildings and sites owned by his Department; and his plans to bring each of these buildings and sites back into use, in tabular form. [36326/24]

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 properties and the arrangements involved are set out in the following Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDPR) 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

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.

The OPW’s Policy in managing vacant, surplus 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. A number of strategic properties are retained in anticipation of potential State use/development in line with service demands arising from Government policy changes to public service provision.

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.

In accordance with the above policy, the OPW has actively engaged with other state agencies and provided a list of its surplus vacant properties and sites 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 housing or humanitarian purposes or for other State use.

As a result of this engagement, the OPW has in the past five years transferred over 50 properties to local authorities for alternative State / community use.

However, many of the vacant surplus properties in the OPW portfolio were deemed unsuitable for residential use following assessment by the various agencies because they are older stock that would require significant investment to comply with current regulations for residential use, or are located in rural areas without the necessary services and supports.

There are currently 46 vacant buildings that are managed by the OPW. Twelve of these buildings are under consideration or in the process of being transferred to Local Authorities or to other State bodies.

There are also 23 vacant and surplus sites that are managed by the OPW. Six of these sites are either under consideration or in the process of being transferred to Local Authorities or to other State bodies:

A list of the vacant properties managed by the OPW and the current status of each is attached at Appendix 1. This list does not include those properties that are an intrinsic part of heritage estates or gardens managed by the OPW that are not considered to be surplus to requirements or part of the OPW's disposal programme.

Appendix 1