883. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide a breakdown of State-owned properties that are currently vacant, by county; the number of months they have been vacant for; the square footage of each property; if there are plans to find new occupiers; the stage these plans are at, for example, if new occupiers have been identified and contracts signed; the reason they are vacant, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56139/26]

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 vacant or non-operational 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.

There are currently 69 surplus vacant properties owned or managed by the OPW, consisting of 51 buildings and 18 sites.

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 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

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 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. 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.

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

Details of each surplus and vacant property are also circulated to other Central Government Departments, such as the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as well as other State bodies such as the Health Service Executive.

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.

A list of the current surplus vacant properties, the status of each and the year that each unit was last used, where available, is attached at Appendix 1. This 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. The 16 former Garda station properties closed in 2012/2013 as part of the Garda Station Rationalisation Programme. The remaining properties/sites have been deemed surplus to requirements and are being prepared for disposal in line with the above policy. The size of the properties listed in Appendix 1 reflects the approximate area, where readily available.

Appendix One