More than 70 properties owned by the OPW are lying vacant around the country

The number of vacant premises owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW) currently stands at more than 70 properties, new figures show.

Nearly 20 garda buildings owned by the OPW have lain vacant for over a decade – though many are being prepared for disposal this year or next year.

Vacant garda stations in Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Wicklow have sat unused for at least ten years or more, according to data published by the Department of Public Expenditure.

Two sites under the State’s decentralisation programme – a scheme that tried to move some public service jobs out of Dublin – have been vacant in Portlaoise and Waterford since 2007.

The Portlaoise site has gone sale agreed, while the Waterford site is under consideration by the Land Development Agency (LDA).

They are all among the 73 vacant properties around the country owned by the OPW, including 52 buildings and 21 sites.

A Sinn Féin TD has described the length of time that some of the properties have been lying idle as “absolutely scandalous”.

Seventeen of the sites are former garda stations that were closed under the 2012 and 2013 policing plans, as well as another two former stations – Lissycasey, Clare and Ballymote, Sligo closed in 2015 and 2009 respectively – and two former garda residences in Kealkil and Ballylongford, both closed in 2012.

Most of the vacant garda buildings are being prepared for disposal – that is, a sale or transfer – either this year or next year.

The former station in Na Brocacha/Cloghan, Donegal is going to be leased to Donegal County Council and the Newbliss, Monaghan station is being transferred to Monaghan County Council, while the Ballymote station closed in 2009 is under consideration for use by a community group.

Meanwhile, in Cork, the seven Crosshaven cottages and surrounding site formerly used by the Coastguard are still waiting to be transferred to Cork County Council for a social housing scheme.

The plan to use the site of the cottages for social housing was approved by Cork County Council more than two years ago.

Four of the seven cottages have been vacant since at least 1983.

In Kerry, seven cottages on Valentia Island formerly used by the Coastguard are being examined for potential future State use.

Seven former Customs sites and properties are either being prepared for disposal this year or under consideration for future State use.

A former Met Éireann station in Birr, Offaly last used in 2009 is being prepared for disposal this year or next year.

Another former Met site in Mullingar, Westmeath that hasn’t been used since 1974 is also under OPW ownership but has title issues that need to be resolved before a disposal can be planned.

The former Debtors’ Prison on Halston Street in Dublin, vacant since 2006, is under consideration for future State use, while the Central Mental Hospital building in Dundrum is under consideration by the LDA.

The former national school in Cloontuskert, Roscommon that’s lying vacant is facing title issues that need to be resolved before it can be disposed.

Speaking to The Journal, Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly, who issued the parliamentary question that prompted the release of the data, said that the “OPW has let a number of houses lay empty since before 1983”, referring to the Crosshaven cottages.

“The reply claimed that there were being prepared for social housing. You would expect that the OPW could do better than a 30-year turnaround when homeless figures are at record highs,” Daly said.

The TD said that “entire communities” feel “abandoned” because the only garda station near them was closed down over a decade ago, calling the lack of use of the buildings a “waste of public resources”.

“Had these buildings been looked after properly, they could have been used to re-establish much needed Garda presence in local communities,” Daly said.

“It’s not just housing or Garda stations – there are many schools that are absolutely desperate for new premises but are spending years languishing in drafty and overcrowded pre-fab units. We simply cannot afford to allow buildings to lie idle and decay like this,” he said, adding that Sinn Féin will be joining housing protests in Dublin and Cork on 17 and 21 June respectively.

In his response to the parliamentary question, Minister of State for the OPW Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said that “as a matter of policy, no property is disposed of until there is absolute certainty that there is no alternative State use for that property”.

“The OPW’s Policy in managing vacant, surplus properties is firstly, to establish if the property is required for alternative State use, including the potential for it to be re-purposed for either Government Departments or the wider public service,” Moran said.

“Secondly, if no State use is identified, the OPW considers if open market disposal is an option, depending on prevailing market conditions.

“Thirdly, the OPW may consider community involvement, subject to a detailed submission that demonstrates that the community or voluntary group seeking to use the property has the means to insure, maintain and manage it in order to reduce costs to the Exchequer.”

Figures obtained by The Journal this week under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that 776 houses have been lying vacant in the State for more than a year.

In total, there are 2,749 vacant council houses across the State at present.

The maintenance budget set aside for all the properties registered as vacant amounts to €366 million in total, with Dublin accounting for €214 million of the budget.

In May, three local authorities each sought to obtain a vacant property via a Compulsory Purchase Order.