Thomas Gould
Question:83. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the role his Department has taken in the review of occupancy status of public buildings. [31024/23]
View answerTuesday, 27 June 2023
Questions (83)
Written answers
The Deputy will be aware that the Office of Public Works is only in a position to respond with information pertaining to public buildings that are owned or leased by them.
A key function of the Office of Public Works is to provide good quality functional accommodation for all Government Departments. In this regard, the OPW holds a portfolio of property throughout the country to meet the various operational needs of the Civil Service, the Gardaí and various other State Bodies.
The OPW’s objective is to hold, manage and maintain a property portfolio that is aligned to Government business delivery needs in terms of size, location, specification, value for money and optimum utilisation.
As of Year-end 2022 the Office portfolio, which forms a key part of the overall accommodation portfolio, comprised 543 buildings with a total floor area of 896,842 sq.m (9,653,527 sq ft).
While the implementation of Blended Working by individual Departments will no doubt have an impact on the occupation of the office portfolio managed by the OPW, the level of this impact will take some time to manifest itself, and must be considered in the context of the overall accommodation demands of Government, and the make-up of the existing accommodation portfolio. The OPW are actively engaged with their Clients on how the workplace can be adapted to support their business and operational requirements in the context of hybrid work strategies. This engagement will continue over the coming months as Departments review their blended working policies.
Active asset management in close collaboration with all occupiers - Departments, Agencies, Public bodies etc. - will ensure that every opportunity will be taken to improve occupational efficiency in line with Client business models and OPW Strategic Plans, resulting in an office portfolio that is fit for purpose and delivers value for money for the taxpayer aligned with meeting the States Climate Action Targets.