OPW spending more than €1.3m annually on car parking spaces for public servants

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is spending more than €1.3 million every year on stand-alone car parking spaces for public servants with some spaces costing as much as €3,500 annually.

The dearest parking spots are 30 spaces for staff of the Revenue Commissioners with rent of €105,000 being paid every year at a garage on George’s Street in Dublin’s city centre.

The next costliest are eight spaces leased on behalf of the Department of Education in Tallaght, which cost a combined €24,000, or €3,000 per space.

The OPW has an annual six-figure parking bill at Marlborough Street Car Park where 79 spaces are being rented for civil servants in the Department of Education at a combined cost of €116,461, or €1,474 each.

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Overall, nearly 60 per cent of the €1.3 million annual bill is being paid for spaces in Dublin with current expenditure in the capital standing at about €775,000 annually.

A further €117,000 in parking costs are being incurred every year in Cork, and almost €110,000 in Galway, with smaller bills in each of counties Donegal, Limerick, Kildare, Sligo, and Wexford.

The cheapest spaces are outside the main urban areas with the OPW paying just €195 per year – or a combined €2,341 – for 12 spots for Revenue staff in Co Donegal.

Three spaces in Tuam, Co Galway for civil servants in the Department of Social Protection cost €200 each annually.

The OPW also secured value on 72 spaces for staff of Revenue and the Department of Justice in Tallaght, where €25,200 is being paid, or €350 each annually.

The Government has signalled it intends to cut the levels of public sector parking available as it moves to meet Ireland’s promises on reducing carbon emissions.

However, figures from the OPW show the state is paying for thousands of car parking spaces for its employees either directly or as part of office rental bills.

It is paying directly for 1,403 stand-alone parking spaces around the country at an average cost per space of €927 annually.

A further 4,770 spaces are available at OPW buildings including 158 for gardaí at Harcourt Square and 80 for staff of the Department of Environment on Adelaide Road.

The OPW said it could only provide information on car spaces leased directly from another party.

“[We] do not hold any information pertaining to provision of car spaces that may be leased under agreements that other Government departments or public bodies may hold independent of the OPW,” it said.

It said there were also cases where car parking was available at a leased building but the cost could not be separated from the overall annual rent bill.

“Therefore, a breakdown of costs specific to [those] car spaces is not included,” it said. “Finally, the OPW does not manage the distribution of car spaces between departments where facilities are shared.”