THE OFFICE OF Public Works (OPW) plans to take an inventory of every building and every item it owns in order to make it available for the public to view online from early next year.
Minister of State at the OPW, Brian Hayes, has told TheJournal.ie that the government will be putting in place new protocols to allow for a stock take of everything from buildings to furniture to have an inventory of what assets the Irish people own.
“[We'll be] making sure that we have published – by the first quarter of next year – an inventory of exactly of who owns what and where, what is its square footage, what is its thermal efficiency,” he said.
Hayes said this would ensure a “whole of government approach to all of the assets that belong to the Irish people”.
A further announcement on the initiative is expected this week.
The Minister said that such an inventory was important for the purposes of ensuring that if local authorities or public agencies are searching for new accommodation they can examine what land or buildings are available from the OPW.
“I think that’s going to be a huge, huge improvement from the current position,” he said.
The Fine Gael TD also said that he hoped to get the State’s current bill for the rental of buildings down to under €100 million next year having brought it down to €108 million this year from a previous high of €138 million three years ago.
In a wide-ranging interview, the Minister also explained what the government is doing with the 137 garda stations that have been closed over the last two years and defended the State’s ownership of Farmleigh House:
YouTube: Thejournalvideo
- camera and editing by Michelle Hennessy and Nicky Ryan
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