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THE OFFICE of Public Works has confirmed plans to close the Government’s publications sales office in Dublin, as part of wider cost-cutting measures.
The shop on Molesworth Street, close to the passport office, has been in operation for several decades but has seen a major drop in sales volume in recent years. It will now close on November 23.
In a statement this lunchtime the junior minister responsible for the OPW, Brian Hayes, said the “nature of publishing has changed dramatically” in recent years, with online availability of laws and other publications reducing the demand for hard copies.
“Sales revenue at the Molesworth Street shop has declined by over 50 per cent since 2008,” Hayes said, adding that the majority of the government’s sales of publications now came through the OPW’s call centre and mail order services.
“I have decided to close the Publications Shop primarily as a cost cutting measure but in making this decision I have also taken into consideration the decline in footfall to the premises,” he said.
“There will be savings achieved in surrendering the lease, but also ancillary staff and logistical savings arising from this decision.”
Data published last year showed that the government had bought out its lease on part of the Sun Alliance Building, in which the office is located, for €555,000 – a move which had saved it €936,000 in rent.
The OPW estimates that the closure of the office will save some €300,000 per annum.
The publications office was usually the only place in which hard copies of tribunal reports could be purchased by the public – and had seen heavy queues when tribunal reports were first published, as they were not readily available online.
The shop was also a well-known address for students studying law, as they would regularly pick up copies of property and corporate legislation there in the run-up to exams.
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How many staff will be made redundant? Why no notice of job losses here? Oh wait hold on; they are civil servants so under Croke Park even though there reason for employment is being done away with they still get to keep their jobs.
So what you’re saying is put the workers in there on the dole? No consideration for the people or their families? Grow up.
You are showing your ignorance. Ever heard of redeployment?
An ignorant comment if ever there was one. Is it a case that you would prefer what minimum amount of staff run that place be made redundant you bitter individual.
Wow. Someone actually moaning that people were *not* made redundant. What the…?! Words fail me. Redeployment of staff means that areas where resources are a bit stretched might now get some help. Snap out of it, Culm. That kind of bloody-mindedness is nothing to be proud of.
Unless any of the staff were previously trained as a nurse, doctor or firefighter then their “redeployment” is both futile and a waste of our money.
On a personal level I would never want to see anyone loose their job, but lets be realistic, if the job no longer exsists, then the staff are no longer required. If there is a position available else where in the civil service let them apply for it the same way as everyone else does, like the rest of us do in the public sector where the most suitable candidate gets hired.
Ah right. Social Welfare and HSE administrative backlogs (for instance) are completely unworthy of staff resources. You clearly have a firm grasp on the intricate workings of all Government departments and offices and which of them are adequately resourced. You’ll have the country’s problems sorted by bedtime. Good man yourself.
Some great books in there. Hope they are still available online.
a very logical decision just need to keep up the good work :)
A very illogical remark from somebody who’s “V” mask avatar would suggest that they consider keeping one’s self informed is a good idea.
closing a bricks and motar shop saving costs available online…. keep up
Government websites are terrible, they’ll only serve as a barrier. Plenty of people who are not tech literate won’t go online at all and others might get fed up with bollocky websites.
“Sales revenue at the Molesworth Street shop has declined by over 50 per cent since 2008,” Hayes said.
Government has declined to a larger extent since the Troika took over – any chance of shutting that down? Only keep open the important parts like Advisers’ Salaries Advisory, TDs Expenses – Vouched & Unvouched and Enda’s Barber!
1 degree of separation, that’s amazing!
I’d be truly impressed if you could tie the government to the article about the Downton season finale.
And…… GO
“This is what would have happened to Downton if Robert hadn’t agreed to Matthew and Tom’s plan to try and make the estate more profitable!”
Joke’s on you, I don’t even watch Downton!
Satire is lost on you guys. Either that or it’s Opposite Day and you all found what I said hilarious. In which case, you guys definitely get satire. And thanks.
Yes in the real world when a shop closes the employees are put on the dole. In the Irish system they get sent to another office with a disturbance payment to play solitaire.
Yeah. Ireland REALLY needs more people on the dole. It would be a really bad idea to redeploy people to areas where staff resources are strapped. FFS. People on this board need a slap.
Technically this news site is a blog, not a bulletin board. :-p
Blog format, perhaps, but not a blog!
Gav, it’s WordPress
So is 10 Downing Street. Tbh we’d consider ‘blog’ to be a state of mind.
Now save a few more quid and tell the staff at the revenue that they won’t be paid to go to their Christmas party
It’s a shame to see that close. Footfall may be down but symbolically it’s important to promote wide access to official documents.
Yes but we are ” symbolically” smashed so maybe we should be cutting “symbolically” expensive things that are surplus to our needs and try get some semblance of readjusting the cost of running the country ….
Dave, I’m inclined to half agree but when we emerge from this recession there will have been so much slash and burn of things that cost relatively little and the big money wasters, like the madness of the children’s hospital planning, will go on and on and on! Apparently, Churchill refused to cut funds to the arts during WWII and when asked why he said, what on earth do you think we are fighting for… some things are worth saving and signs of democracy and access to government should not be cut back. There is so little engagement as it is…
It’s hardly cutting the arts or worth fighting for in fairness , there are much better and more efficient ways to give access to govt publications than having one outlet on one of the most expensive streets in Dublin , local library all over the country ,online access are all more efficient alternatives in my opinion.
Cpould all the, very obviously, Civil Servants who commented above please log off this site and get back to work. Please, your work playtime should have ended in 2008
So what about the staff, tossed on to the dole after generations of service. The current discourse of “wow we made savings” means someone’s on the dole, and the money saved goes to bond holders.
Surely they are not on the dole. They were probably redeployed to where they are needed.
Why remove it altogether? couldn’t they relocate it to a cheaper premises? I only found out about the shop the other day and was going to visit soon!
And where is my granny going to buy copies of all the tribunal and other reports now? An Post are hardly going to deliver the ones that come in several volumes?! The poor postman/woman…
Why is it that what I remember them for is log tables…
Could the people who posted above, who are very obviously Civil Servants, please log off and return to work.
Playtime while on government work should have ended in 2008.
As you mention being overworked then how come you have time to read and comment on the closure of the Government Publication Office???
have your say