To date property acquisitions relating to the Government's decentralisation programme have been completed or significantly advanced in 25 locations. The particular solutions in these locations include State owned sites, sites purchased from local authorities, private individuals and purchases and leases of existing buildings. The estimated total committed expenditure in these 25 locations is €42.7 million excluding VAT. Suitable solutions have been identified in another 14 locations and negotiations to acquire these are ongoing. The overall site acquisition cost of the entire decentralisation programme is expected to be in the region of €75 million to €100 million, excluding VAT. The prices paid to the date for sites are considered by the OPW to be in line with market prices.
It is estimated that approximately 210,00 sq. m of office space will be required to accommodate the total numbers included in the programme. OPW cost norms (April 2005) in respect of offices would indicate an average build-cost to fit-out standard, in the range of €1,800 to €2,200 per square metre for suburban / rural locations and €2,500 to €3,000 per square metre in city/town centre locations. Such figures exclude VAT, professional fees and inflation. In addition the cost of equipping the accommodation to standard office equipment levels could be estimated at approximately €4,000 per person. This would exclude the cost of Information and Communication Technology and specialised equipment requirements. Such general measurements of cost do not include specialised facility and equipment requirements and other variables which would arise from the spread of possible procurement methodologies. In addition general cost indicators of this type show a snapshot in time.
It is self-evident that a firmer scale of costs for the decentralisation programme will only emerge on foot of actual cost proposals being received from the market. It will be some months yet before sufficient data can be extracted from a suitable range of tender competitions to provide a basis on which more robust estimates of the overall cost of the programme can be made. Nevertheless, it can be estimated that, generally speaking, the cost of providing accommodation in provincial, compared to central Dublin locations should yield considerable cost savings to the State over time in terms of site costs, capital build costs and indeed maintenance costs. The receipts accruing to the Exchequer from the disposal of surplus buildings in Dublin in the context of the Government's Asset Transformation programme to date exceed €345 million.