Vol. 337 No. 8
I move:
That a sum not exceeding £90,291,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1982, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of Public Works; for certain domestic expenses; for expenditure in respect of public and certain other buildings; for the maintenance of certain parks and public works; for the execution and maintenance of drainage and other engineering works.
I am calling now on the Minister of State and reminding the House that in respect of this debate an agreement has been reached and we rely on Deputies to co-operate with each other in the execution of that agreement.
But you do agree, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, that there are freer debating facilities in the Kremlin in Russia than there are here. This House is becoming a complete farce with tens of thousands, indeed millions of pounds being voted and Deputies not being given the freedom of right of expression of opinion. This House is becoming more and more irrelevant day after day. That is what has democracy in its present dangerous state in the country.
Clare): The net amount originally allocated for the Vote for Public Works and Buildings for 1982, as shown in the Book of Estimates, was £90,291,000. The Government have since made available additional sums totalling £425,000, made up of £125,000 for archaeological surveys and reports as announced by the Minister for Finance in his budget statement on 25 March last and £300,000 more for arterial drainage construction schemes. I will be introducing a Supplementary Estimate later in the year to cover these additional allocations as well as the cost of pay increases not provided for in the original Estimate but for which provision was also made in the budget.
Apart from the works covered by this Estimate the Office of Public Works are also responsible for carrying out various works programmes for other Departments on a repayment basis, the allocations for which in the current year total £77 million approximately.
Such extensive programmes of works could not be undertaken without the necessary staff and support facilities. The cost of these is met from subheads A1 to C of the Vote for which I am seeking a total of £12,018,000. This represents less than 7 per cent of the estimated gross expenditure outturn for the office which will be in excess of £180 million. It is a fair indication of the amount of work which my staff gets through in a year, particularly when one considers the long lead-in time and the detailed planning which has to be undertaken before a project commences.
Subhead D of the Vote, for which I am seeking a sum of £3.6 million, covers the purchase of sites and buildings, a necessary preliminary to the various works programmes.
In recent times, thanks to the help and co-operation of various local authorities and the general public, the Office of Public Works have purchased sites in some of our larger provincial towns and cities with a view to decentralising some Government services. While it is easy to draw attention to such high-profiled and well-publicised purchases of property, the office are also involved on an ongoing basis in more mundane land purchases such as sites for Garda stations, social welfare offices, customs offices, tax offices and many other Government services which are administered at a local level. These purchases may be overlooked in the light of the larger schemes but they are highly important to the social and economic fabric of our everyday life. The office are also continuing with the on-going programme for the purchase of new sites and premises in order to replace the many dilapidated and run-down premises which at present house some Government services and with which, I am sure, my colleagues here and the general public are only too familiar.
The purchase of land for national park purposes and for the National Monuments and Waterways Services is also met from subhead D. Insofar as new acquisitions for park purposes are concerned, the concentration in recent years has been principally on the development of Connemara National Park and the establishment of the new Burren National Park in County Clare. The bringing into State care of important monuments and sites of exceptional archaeological interest is part of the programme of protection of our national heritage. Purchase of sites for the waterways service relate to the provision of improved facilities for people using the Shannon navigation.
An amount of £29.5 million is required under subhead E for the carrying out of new works, alterations and additions, including furnishing and fitting out of new buildings for Government Departments and other State purposes. The benefits of such a works programme as this are felt not alone by the public servants who will gain better working conditions but also by members of the public who will have occasion to visit the various buildings and properties concerned. Expenditure of this amount will also ensure the maintenance of many jobs not alone directly within the construction industry but also in the affiliated and downstream industries throughout the country.
I have circulated amongst Deputies copies of my office's new works programme which lists the projects covered under this subhead and which gives a good idea of the varied works in hand or proposed. I will just comment briefly on some of the major items included.
I am pleased to state that in 1982 we will see the completion of such major projects in Dublin as 14-16 Upper Merrion Street where refurbishment works have been carried out and the building is being occupied by Department of Finance staff; the complex at 93-99 Lower Leeson Street which is now being fitted out for occupation and will be the new headquarters of the Department of Fisheries and Forestry; a new building for the State Laboratory at Abbotstown, County Dublin; and an office development at Beggar's Bush to house the Geological Survey Office and the Labour Court. As you are all aware, the National Concert Hall has been completed and has been operating successfully since September last. Also completed is a large refurbishment project on the North Block of Government Buildings and construction of the second stage of the new Garda Headquarters at the Phoenix Park.
Work has commenced on the adaptation of premises at 2-3 Kildare Street to provide additional accommodation for the National Library. Restoration of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, is progressing well and is due for completion in 1983.
On the provincial side the construction of government offices in Athlone and Waterford is now complete. An extension has been provided to existing offices in Kilkenny. Work is proceeding on the erection of Government offices at Cork, Carrick-on-Shannon, Navan, Shannon and Thurles and planning is at an advanced stage for the erection of new Government offices at Kilkenny, Portlaoise and Letterkenny, the extension of the Government offices in Castlebar and temporary Government offices in Wexford. Other developments being planned include Government offices at Arklow, Cavan, Dundalk, Sligo, Tralee, Tullamore and Wexford.
A total sum of £2,629,000 is required in respect of works which will be undertaken for the Department of Justice, mainly for the Garda. This includes provision for the erection of new Garda stations and residences, for the improvement of existing Garda accommodation and for other works at the Garda Depot and Templemore Training Centre. The progress made last year in the replacement of substandard accommodation will be maintained in the current year. Major works were completed last year at 12 centres, including Boyle, Killaloe, Kanturk and Navan. In progress are contracts for the erection of new stations and, in many cases, residences, at 16 centres. These centres include Athy, Carrick-on-Shannon, Tralee and Terenure, Dublin. Planning for buildings at 31 centres, including divisional headquarters at Monaghan and district headquarters at Wicklow, Arklow, Blackrock (Cork), Belmullet, Caherciveen and Westport is at an advanced stage while preliminary planning is in progress in respect of 28 other centres. Planning for the provision of a Garda officers' training college at Templemore Training Centre is also well advanced. A computer suite has been completed at the Garda Depot and work is progressing on a second suite.
Planning is also in progress for new and additional accommodation for court staff in Dublin and for welfare office accommodation in Limerick. Other Departments for which major building programmes are in hands or planned include the Departments of Agriculture, Posts and Telegraphs and Foreign Affairs. Included in this subhead also is a provision for the decentralisation programme which the Government have decided to reactivate. Tenders have been invited for the provision and/or financing of five of the more advanced projects namely, Athlone, Ballina, Galway, Killarney and Sligo and the others will follow as soon as practicable.
A total of £776,000 is also included under subhead E for works at our national park and monuments. Work on a new visitor centre at Glendalough is expected to begin before the end of the year. This new building will make a significant contribution to the amenities of Glendalough and should be greatly appreciated by the many visitors to the monastic site.
A provision of £164,000 is being made also under this subhead for yet more investment in the development of the Shannon Navigation. The Office of Public Works, in co-operation with Bord Fáilte and the local authorities, have played a major role in developing the great potential of the waterway for recreational use.
In regard to subhead F.1-F.4, not alone do the Office of Public Works construct new buildings but they also have responsibility in the areas of maintenance, furnishing, leasing, heating, lighting, and so on, of Government offices, Garda stations, post office buildings, employment exchanges, social welfare offices, agricultural institutions, Irish embassies abroad and other State-owned buildings. The cost of this, with the cost of maintenance of certain State-owned harbours, the River Shannon Navigation and the various national parks is met from subhead F.1, F.2, F.3 and F.4 for which I am seeking a toal amount of £39,457,000.
While expenditure under the maintenance subhead, F.1, is kept to the minimum consistent with the obligations of the Office of Public Works, false economy must be avoided. Unless property is properly maintained it becomes dilapidated and the progressive deterioration resulting from neglect can prove very costly to remedy. Property which is neglected can also be a source of danger to those who occupy and use it and even to passers-by. The Office of Public Works have an obligation to see that this does not happen with the property under their charge. Where buildings are rented, commitments under tenancy agreements, which can include financial contributions in the form of service charges towards the cost of maintenance carried out by landlords, must be honoured.
The cost of furniture and furnishings required in State premises throughout the country and in Irish embassies abroad is met from subhead F.2. In order to discharge their responsibilities in this regard, the Office of Public Works have a furniture division which operates a large furniture store, a modern furniture production unit and repair and restoration workshops. This division supplies modern standard office furniture to the various public service offices, post offices, Garda stations and so on, and provides office and domestic furniture to prisons. It also furnishes prestige buildings such as Leinster House, Aras an Uachtaráin and Dublin Castle, as well as Irish Embassy Chanceries and residences, with an appropriate combination of modern furniture and furnishings and restored or reproduction furniture.
While I am proud of the skill of its craftsmen and of the very high quality of the furniture produced both in the modern production unit and in the restoration workshop, I am mindful of the need to support the Irish furniture industry and to develop and improve the range of high quality native products available. It is settled policy to make the maximum possible input of Irish made furniture, furnishing and fittings into all premises serviced by the furniture division. I am assured that the display of high quality Irish materials in important buildings here at home and in our embassies abroad in pursuance of this policy has helped to generate business for a number of Irish firms, including significant export orders in a number of cases. I need hardly add that I am anxious to encourage this very desirable development whenever possible.
In regard to subhead F.3, until such time as my office is in a position to build all the public service accommodation requirements it will be necessary to lease space from developers to meet these. The cost of this is met from subhead F.3 for which I am seeking £14 million. The State, through the Commissioners of Public Works, takes tenancies of much of the privately developed office space in the country and in this way encourages further development which provides useful employment for many people.
An amount of £6.8 million is required under subhead F.4 to heat and light the accommodation occupied for State purposes. In so far as is possible the Office of Public Works use native fuels for this purpose and every effort is made when planning buildings to ensure the maximum usage of these. Indeed, I believe approximately 80 per cent of the expenditure is in respect of native fuels such as electricity, turf and so on.
Under subhead F.5 I am seeking an amount of £590,000 for the reconstruction of Waterford courthouse which it is hoped to complete this year. The Office of Public Works are undertaking this work on behalf of Waterford Corporation, who are repaying the cost.
An amount of £300,000 is required under subhead F.6 to cover expenditure on works to the King's Inns, Dublin, which it is hoped to commence this year. The building is of major architectural importance and is scheduled for preservation under the Dublin City Development Plan. It is, however, in a poor state of repair and as the Office of Public Works are carrying out major repairs to the Registry of Deeds, which is part of the same structure, it was decided that they should also carry out essential works to the King's Inns building. The major part of the expenditure will be met from the Funds of Suitors, subject to the necessary legislation being passed by the Oireachtas, and provision for receipt of £300,000 from the fund has been included under subhead K of the Vote — Appropriations-in-Aid, Item 10.
In regard to subheads G.1-G.3, in an economy such as ours where agriculture plays such a vital part it is essential that all available land be brought to its full potential. Hence the importance of the arterial drainage programme of the Commissioners of Public Works may be readily appreciated. An amount of £13,406,000 is included in the published Estimates for continuance of the comprehensive programme of survey, design and construction works and maintenance being carried out by the commissioners.
Subhead G.1 provides for the carrying out of hydrometric studies and of comprehensive drainage surveys as a necessary preliminary to the schemes. Construction works costs are met from subhead G.2. This year works will continue on the Boyne, the Maigue and the Corrib-Mask-Robe. As I mentioned earlier, additional money has since been allocated for drainage works and has enabled a start to be made on the Boyle and Bonet schemes this month.
As well as the primary benefits to agriculture there are many secondary benefits to be derived from arterial drainage, not the least of which is its employment content. Indeed drainage is labour-intensive; at present almost 1,000 men are employed of the three schemes in progress and at peak the Boyle and Bonet schemes will employ some 300 more.
The value of arterial drainage is well appreciated and is not lost sight of in the EEC who provides substantial grants annually towards the cost of works.
There would not be much sense in completing a drainage scheme if, when completed, the river and its catchment were allowed to revert to their former condition and accordingly the commissioners also maintain completed schemes. The cost of maintenance is met from subhead G.3 and is recoverable from the county councils concerned.
With all these works in progress, it is understandable that a large amount of machinery is required. The cost of purchasing and maintaining this machinery is met from subhead H and the amount sought for this in the current year is £2.756 million. The Office of Public Works has built up a central engineering workshop whose staff has the expertise to advise on the most suitable type of machinery to purchase and to maintain this equipment and repair it when breakdowns occur. The variety of machinery and plant used in the different schemes necessitates purchases of a wide range of spare parts, and this is a major feature of the purchasing and material control division of the workshops. The machinery is used not alone in drainage schemes but also at other works at State harbours, on the Shannon navigation and on coast protection schemes.
An amount of £134,000 is required under subhead I to cover the cost of outstanding charges in connection with the coast protection scheme at Enniscrone. Included also is an amount to cover maintenance of completed schemes at Rosslare and Youghal, the cost of which is recoverable from the county councils involved.
Subhead J.I is the subhead under which provision is made for the general conservation and presentation of national monuments in State care, for archaeological excavations and for some expenses of the Archaeological Survey.
I am pleased to announce that works at the Casino, Marino, are now almost complete and that later this year an announcement will be made as to when this very fine building will be opened to the public. The Casino had of course nothing to do with gambling or the like. The title is derived from "casina" which is Italian for "little palace", and a little palace it is indeed. The building was erected by the first Earl of Charlemont to serve as a sort of summerhouse in the grounds of his out-of-town residence at Marino House, the area now called Marino being at the time in the countryside. It was designed by William Chambers and is regarded as possibly the greatest gem of 18th century architecture in these islands. When opened to the public, the Casino will be an outstanding addition to the tourist amenities of the city, and I feel sure that it will come to be regarded with pride by the citizens of Dublin.
Grants for research archaeological excavations are to be made again this year on the recommendation of the Royal Irish Academy. This will enable the investigation of the major site at Knowth, (County Meath) to continue as well as the investigations at Carrowmore megalithic cemetery, County Sligo.
I should like to refer briefly to the Archaeological Survey which is being carried out under the aegis of the Office of Public Works. The purpose of the survey is to record all the ancient and historic monuments in the country, and its importance cannot be over-emphasised in view of the fact that these are the prime sources of information of past ages for the social historian. Because of the regrettable ever-increasing rate of destruction of our heritage of monuments and sites, it has been decided to prepare and publish inventories of sites and monuments for each county and to leave aside for the present the more detailed survey and publication of full illustrated texts. A start has already been made on the inventories for the counties already surveyed, i.e. Louth, Monaghan, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, Cavan and Kildare. These inventories will list the monuments in each county and will be accompanied by distribution maps and should be of value to students, local authorities and institutions of academic study, as well as to the Department of Agriculture including the Land Commission and to the Department of Fisheries and Forestry. It is hoped that the publication of the inventories will increase people's awareness of archaeology and, as more sites are identified, the destruction of potentially-valuable sites should diminish. To accelerate the archaeological survey further, the University Colleges of Cork and Galway have been invited to carry out preliminary surveys and publish inventories of monuments in Counties Cork and Galway.
On a general note, it is very satisfying to observe that, at a time when the tourist industry generally is going through a difficult period, the numbers of visitors to our national monuments continue to increase and that receipts from the sales of admission tickets more than cover the cost of providing a guide-information service at the major national monument sites.
Earlier in my speech I mentioned that the Office of Public Works also undertake works for various Departments on a repayment basis. One of the major programmes currently being undertaken under this heading is the provision of the buildings required for the development of the telecommunications service, the cost of which is met from the telephone capital account. In March 1979 the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs announced an accelerated building programme for the erection of more than 500 new buildings or extensions to existing buildings, the majority of which were to be completed within three years. The Office of Public Works reached this very difficult target. At the end of March 1982 more than half the buildings were completed and a further 100 or so were well on the way to completion and will be handed over for use by the end of this year. Planning of most of the remaining projects is at an advanced stage. Expenditure on this service in the current year by the Office of Public Works will be in the region of £30 million.
The Office of Public Works also undertake the primary school building programme for which the Department of Education have allocated £27 million in 1982. Other building programmes undertaken by the Office of Public Works include those for prisons for the Department of Justice and harbour works for the Department of Fisheries and Forestry and Roinn na Gaeltachta.
In the short time that I have had responsibility for the Office of Public Works I have been impressed by the extent and varied nature of the works undertaken by the Office and the expertise which it has developed in many fields through years of experience.
I am sure that many Deputies will wish to comment on areas of special interest to them under this Estimate which I commend to the House. I hope that, when replying, I will be able to supply any additional information sought.
I call Deputy L'Estrange and I should like to avail of the opportunity of congratulating him on his appointment in this field.
Thank you very much. First, I should like to pay tribute to the Minister of State and to the officials of the Office of Public Works. I have always found the Minister of State to be a most courteous person and I must say the same about his officials. This Estimate is one of the most interesting to come before the House this year. It covers a vast area in which various schemes operate with very wide ramifications.
The Public Works Act goes back to 1831, 152 years, and it is still going strong. That Act created a separate Board of Works for Ireland and vested in it duties and responsibilities for the eight existing boards. Their functions were concerned with the execution and maintenance of public works in Ireland. The board, constituted under that Act, were charged with the execution of many services. Those duties were later expanded and at times contracted as the vicissitudes of the time and the changing political situation demanded.
As the Minister has stated the operations of the Office of Public Works cover practically every Department of State, almost every part of the country and many features of our lives. The Office of Public Works are the servants of so many Departments that it is hard for them to escape criticism. When criticism is showered on them it is perhaps the Departments the Office of Public Works are the agents for who should get the blame. The blame is usually heaped on the Office of Public Works. It seemed to be fashionable in the past to decry the Board of Works. They are often blamed for the sins of others. As the people responsible for doing the work of other Departments, they are bound to get the criticism.
The Office of Public Works, as the Minister said, are the repository of vast knowledge relating to the whole country. They are in a position to give a lead in standards because of their history and traditional skills. They have a unique opportunity to set proper standards for buildings, design and workmanship and can ensure that the work done by local authorities and the private sector will have a high standard to compare with and evaluate. Unfortunately, the standard in buildings has fallen and too many are inclined to put up with second best.
The Office of Public Works deal with improvements to Government Buildings and to Leinster House. We have an excellent building here, excellently run, with a courteous and competent staff, but they have a lot to put up with. Our waiting rooms at the gates are far too small. One could hardly swing a cat in them. On budget day and at other times we can see queues of people waiting outside in the rain before they can be interviewed. I know this has to be done for security reasons but it is a pity that we cannot have better waiting rooms. The waiting room on the Merrion Street side is much smaller than the one on the Kildare Street side.
There are many complaints about the heating and the thermostat which governs the heating in Leinster House. The humidity here for the last week was overpowering. It is impossible to put up with it or for Deputies and officials to do their work properly. I cannot understand why it cannot be improved. During winter one can go into one room and the heat is unbearable but when one goes into another room one is frozen. I wonder if the ushers and the messengers could have lighter uniforms to wear during warm weather.
We have had an extension added to Leinster House and the old College of Art was given to us recently. This extra space was needed and was to improve the accommodation for Deputies, Senators, officials, the press and the general public. All have benefited from the improvements but there are many snags which need to be overcome and more improvements are needed. Deputies are crowded into small rooms. There are secretaries working in those rooms as well and it is impossible to work in such conditions. People in industry would not work in the conditions that Deputies and those who serve them work in here at the moment.
There is not a proper storeroom. I have been in the place in the basement but it is a dreadful place to work in. If there was a proper storeroom a year's supply could be purchased. I am informed that only a few months' supply can be purchased at the moment. The messengers have to take the stationery and the envelopes on a trolley, push the trolley over our beautiful carpets which we should be trying to protect, into the rain at times, and across to the College of Art. Something needs to be done immediately in relations to this. It is hard to believe the conditions which some people in Leinster House have to work in.
It is only right to pay tribute where it is due but the first major breakthrough came under Deputy Haughey as Taoiseach in 1980. We are very fond of abusing him at times but I was Chief Whip at that time and there was a major breakthrough. He gave us permission at that time to go ahead with facilities for Deputies and Senators, although they are not enough.
I would like to quote from a letter I got on 8 October 1981, when I was Chief Whip for the Fine Gael Party, regarding the young man doing the printing work at that time. It stated:
Accommodation in our new rooms must be found for —— and his machines. For the first three months he was here, he spent all day working in a room where there was hardly enough room for the machines, let alone himself. The room had neither a window nor any ventilation as the double doors had to be kept closed because of the noise. He is now situated on our landing directly outside the women's toilet. It is very cold and draughty there. Even during the Summer there was a draught there which would skin a cat and there is no way at all of closing the area off. It is unreasonable to expect anyone to continue working in such conditions.
I do not want to give the young man's name. Unfortunately, he is still working under the same conditions on the landing, because a suitable room cannot be found for him in Leinster House.
Deputy John Bruton on many occasions has dealt with the improvements we should have in Leinster House. As Chief Whip on 28 May 1980 I sent to the Taoiseach a long list and I am glad to see, on checking through it yesterday, that we have got almost three-quarters of what we asked for at that time.
There are many other items we still have to be given. One is a terminal in the Library for Euronet, a European Computerised information system, a telephone exchange for each party with telephonist for each exchange, a bleeper system for all Deputies with links to the Party Whip's office and the messenger office, a telex terminal with newsagency reports to come into the Library, a new electronic system for divisions to cut out delays in voting, computerisation of Dáil reports for quick retrieval of quotations and newspapers on microfilm as in RTE.
We are concerned about the programme for school construction to meet the needs of primary education. Many of our national schools are not up to standard. Some are still without flush toilets and some of the schools are still pre-fabs provided ten to 15 years ago. It is unreasonable that schoolchildren should have to tolerate conditions that should make politicians blush with shame.
I suggest that the Office of Public Works should strive towards the establishment of further national parks in suitable places throughout the country. Indeed I should like to see one in each county. More attention should be paid to such a programme which would keep our young people interested in games and off the streets and away from vandalism and drugs. The country should be proud of the amenities in the Phoenix Park. It provides one million Dublin people with facilities during relaxation times. However, there have been complaints that the Office of Public Works are not maintaining the gaelic, soccer and camogie pitches as they should be. They contain dips and hollows, and need to be resodded and drained in some cases. I welcome the steps being taken in regard to arterial drainage but unfortunately nothing has been done in the Shannon Basin. On 16 May 1972 I had a question down and was told that the work there was awaiting a report of a costs study. That is more than ten years ago and the people in Longford-Westmeath, mainly small farmers, have their lands flooded for six months every year. I hope the Minister will see if grants are available from the EEC to get this work done as quickly as possible.
I asked a question also in 1972 about whether the Government could provide their own office space instead of relying on rented accommodation. I was told it was being examined. I am glad that certain new buildings in Dublin are being opened this year. In 1962-63 the Government were paying £9,000 a year in rent and this year the figure is £13,645,000. That money could be much better spent. Many of the buildings we are renting have been built by speculators who borrow the money from Irish insurance companies and others. Why cannot the Board of Works do that? I could speak for a long time on this Estimate but I agreed to divide the half hour with Deputy Bermingham.
If I tried to say what I have to say in a quarter hour I would be insulting the Office of Public Works. Therefore, I will confine myself to the points that mainly concern me, but I suggest that we be given an opportunity later in the year to discuss this very important subject. I congratulate the Minister and he may wonder at that but I think it is fair to say that although he was a full Minister, he is now in charge of the most important office in the whole Government. I say that from experience I have had.
As the Minister's immediate predecessor in that office, I can say that he has one of the most loyal staffs that any Minister could wish for. Surprisingly, let me say, because I had always been told they were no good for anything, that they were slow and indifferent, I found when I went into that office that for years they had been carrying the can for every other Department. I could not praise them highly enough, from the most junior member of the staff to the chairman — I found their dedication amazing.
Having said that, I shall confine myself to the few points that I will be able to make in the ten minutes still available to me. I should like particularly to emphasise that in the Office of Public Works we have an agency which could do more to solve our unemployment problem than can be imagined because that office could initiate schemes that would create a vast amount of employment right throughout the economy. There is no area of the Government's structure in which the Office of Public Works are not involved.
With regard to national parks, we have built up an expertise and a definite commitment and interest by people from the top down and they have developed parks in a manner in which we can all be justly proud. It is the showpiece of the Office of Public Works and they have done a magnificent job.
I take a great interest in the waterways on the Shannon and canals because I come from an area which is served by the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal. There is marvellous potential for developing the waterways further. The Office of Public Works should pursue this policy in a constructive way. They have already proved they can do this with the development of the Shannon waterways. We were led to believe at one time that there was legislation pending which would hand over the waterways of the canals to the Office of Public Works and that they would be developing that in the same way as the Shannon. It would be a tourist attraction and a great amenity for our own people.
In the area of building and division of offices, there has been talk in the last few years about privatisation and how other people would be asked to build offices. It has been proved that, given the money, the Office of Public Works would provide the accommodation necessary for our huge civil service. Protests are being made daily from Government employees who need accommodation. The money is just not there and I sympathise with the Minister in that regard. Although he is the only junior Minister who has an Estimate, he cannot fight his corner in the Cabinet because he is under the control of the Minister for Finance. That is a serious disadvantage. The Office of Public Works have a great potential for the creation of employment and that is the most important problem facing us at present.
The great achievement of the Office of Public Works has been in providing one of the finest concert halls in Europe. It is not the biggest hall, but they turned a poor building into a magnificent showpiece. I wish to congratulate the people who worked on that from the ground up. It has been favourably commented on by experts all over Europe.
When I had the honour to be the Minister of State at the Department of Finance I initiated a study of arterial drainage. It was carried out by financial experts in the Department and their principal aim was to see how employment could be created in that area. We could create jobs in the west at a net gain to the Government. The 50 per cent grant in the west could help to pay some of the permanent staff who would be involved in any permanent scheme. Social Welfare payments in the west are also above average because people are inclined to have larger families. If some of these people were employed there would be a great saving in these payments. They would also be paying income tax and this also would benefit the Government. We could, in effect, produce jobs for less than cost. When that study was finalised it was placed with the Department of Finance. I urge the Minister to continue examining that area because we are paying at the rate of £7,000 per job to the IDA and they are not even creating employment.
Clare): I would like to thank Deputies for their contributions and their words of congratulation. I would also like to thank them for their words of appreciation in regard to the personnel in the Office of Public Works. It is true they have been subjected to much criticism — wrongly, in most instances — over the years.
There were a number of points raised here and, if I cannot cover them all, I will communicate with the Deputies concerned. Deputy L'Estrange raised a number of points in regard to Leinster House. There are some that have nothing to do with the Office of Public Works, such as ushers' uniforms and telephones. They are matters for the House authorities. The differences between temperature in rooms is the fault of people who occupy them. In one room it has to be turned up if it is cold and in another room it has to be turned off. There is a serious accommodation problem in these buildings. We have a growing number of Deputies and growing staff numbers over the years and the only acquisition we could make during that time was the College of Art which was refurbished as quickly as possible to relieve the overcrowding. The only way we will ever solve overcrowding is to build new Houses of Parliament because I do not know where we are going to find more accommodation. We have some in Senanta House, near enough so that Deputies and Senators will be available in the event of their having to vote.
Deputy L'Estrange mentioned that national schools were in a bad state. We are the agents for carrying out the works required by the Department of Education in regard to new national schools and extensions to old national schools. We do not set the priorities. The Department of Education set the priorities. We do the work in accordance with their priorities. There are over 400 major school schemes on at present but we have to go by the priorities set by the Department of Education.
The Shannon study has been mentioned. It has been spoken about for very many years. There was mention of a small sum in the Estimates but that sum in the January Estimates for this year would only cover the cost of the study. There was no provision for the extra staffing which is all-important. In May 1981, before Deputy Bermingham went there, the Office of Public Works received sanction for three new engineering posts because there was a tremendous shortage of engineers there. When the embargo was imposed a senior engineer was appointed but because of the embargo the other two engineers were not appointed. It is hoped to recruit the staff in the not too distant future. The embargo still exists at the moment. It is not the fault of the Office of Public Works that this has not proceeded either last year or this year.
Deputy Bermingham made a very valid point in regard to the creation of jobs in the Office of Public Works. We can have a net gain of over £400 out of the creation of each job in the Office of Public Works in the west where there will be a 50 per cent EEC grant and this compares with the huge sums which industrial jobs cost each year. The Deputy can be sure that I will continue stating the case as he did, explaining the importance of this and trying to improve the situation as we go along.
