Site owned by State has been vacant for nearly half a century

A SITE owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW) has been left idle for nearly half a century, with 20 Garda stations vacant for more than a decade.

Figures released to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín detail an abundance of State properties and sites going to waste in the midst of a housing crisis.

They include two properties on O’Connell Street in Dublin city which have been vacant for more than five years, as well another property on Castle Street, just outside Dublin Castle, which has been vacant for 24 years.

Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Mr Tóibín branded the levels of vacancy in State-owned properties as ‘scandalous’.

He said: ‘Across Government departments, agencies and local authorities, there are vast hoards of vacant properties. It makes no sense for the State to be sitting on these in the teeth of the worst housing crisis we’ve seen – with 4,000 children now homeless.

‘One of the OPW’s properties or sites has been vacant and idle for longer than I have been alive. The site has been idle since before I was born. This is scandalous, properties should be disposed of, or turned around quicker, and every site owned by the OPW which they no longer need, should be handed over to the relevant county council for the construction of housing,’ he said.

The OPW said it has provided a list of ‘surplus’ vacant properties to Government departments, including the Department of Integration, which is responsible for accommodating asylum seekers and refugees.

The former Met Station site in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, has been vacant for 49 years, with a note stating that ‘title issues to be resolved before disposal can be planned’.

As part of the austerity policies imposed in the wake of the financial crash, 139 Garda stations were closed under a 2012-2013 rationalisation programme.

The figures show that 22 of these buildings are vacant, a decade after they were closed.

The figures show that 16 are being ‘prepared for disposal’, four have been ‘sale agreed’ with the remainder being transferred to local councils.

In addition to this, four former Garda stations in Cork, Donegal, Kilkenny and Sligo have been vacant for more than a decade.

In Cork city, the former St Luke’s Garda Station has been vacant for 15 years, despite being transferred to Cork City Council.

In Buncrana, Co. Donegal, the former Garda station has been vacant for 16 years, despite now being under the remit of the local council, while the former Garda station in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, has been vacant for 22 years despite being transferred to Kilkenny County Council.

The former Garda station in Ballymote, Co. Sligo, is ‘being prepared for disposal’ after being vacant for 14 years.

Other vacant properties owned by the OPW include two Garda residences in Cork and Kerry.

In Dublin, the transfer of the O’Connell Street properties to the local council, or selling them is ‘under consideration’, while an ‘alternative use’ for the Castle Street property is being examined, the Mail has been told.

The list of vacant sites and properties includes the former OPW office on the Old Blackrock Road in Cork, which has been vacant for eight years. The note by the OPW says an ‘alternative State use is being examined’.

The OPW is also preparing to

‘Reduce costs to the Exchequer’

transfer a site and seven former Coast Guard properties to Cork County Council for used in a social housing scheme.

The former Met Station in Birr, Co. Offaly, is being ‘prepared for disposal in 2024’ after being vacant for 14 years.

The OPW said in a statement to the Mail: ‘No property is disposed of until there is absolute certainty that there is no alternative State use for that property.’

‘Secondly, if no State use is identified, the OPW considers if open market disposal is an option. 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.’

The OPW has the responsibility on behalf of the State for managing and maintaining a substantial and complex estate of approximately 2,500 properties.