Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works (OPW) (Irish: Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of owned and rented Government offices and police properties, oversees National Monuments and directly manages some heritage properties, and is the lead State engineering agency, with a special focus on flood risk management. It lies within the remit of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, with functions largely delegated to a Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for the Office. The OPW has a central role in driving the Government's property asset management reform process, both in respect of its own portfolio and that of the wider public service.[2] The agency was initially known as Board of Works, a title inherited from a preceding body, and this term is still sometimes encountered.
Agency overview
15 October 1831
- Barrack Board and Board of Works / Civil Buildings Commissioners (subsumed the Office of the Surveyor General), Directors-General of Inland Navigation (subsumed the Fisheries Commissioners), Postmaster General (partly), Public Works Loans Commissioners
Jonathan Swift Street, Trim, County Meath
c. 2400 (~1950 full-time, ~450 seasonal / part-time)
- Maurice Buckley, Chairman
- Heritage Ireland, Government Publications Office
The second oldest State agency in Ireland,[3] the OPW subsumed the functions of the Commissioners and Overseers of Barracks (the Barrack Board) and the Board of Works / Civil Buildings Commissioners (which two agencies had in turn taken on the functions of the Office of the Surveyor General in 1762), the Directors-General of Inland Navigation (which had taken on the functions of the Fisheries Commissioners), and some functions of the Postmaster-General, and those of the Public Works Loans Commissioners.
In the 21st century, the OPW includes the Government Publications Office, and publishes the State gazette, Iris Oifigiúil, and also manages some aspects of the household of the President of Ireland. It for many years oversaw aspects of public procurement, including the first centralised national procurement office. Its fisheries functions later moved to more specialised departments, the inland navigation functions were largely transferred to Waterways Ireland in 1999, and many purchasing functions moved to the Office of Government Procurement in 2014.
Name[edit]
The body is formally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,[4] though the full title is rarely used, other than in legislation, with Office of Public Works the main working title, even in parliamentary documents and accounts,[1] and Board of Works also used. Legally the Office's powers are vested in its three commissioners, though operationally it has a broader management team.[3]
History[edit]
Preceding bodies[edit]
Until the late 17th century, public buildings in Ireland were financed, constructed and maintained by Royal officials, most notably the Surveyor General of Ireland, without any involvement of parliamentary authorities, but in 1700, the Irish Parliament created two bodies, a set of land trustees (the Trustees of Barracks), and the Commissioners and Overseers of Barracks (informally known as the Barrack Board) to handle military accommodation, using funds allocated by parliamentary vote. In 1759, the role of the Barrack Board was extended to include fortresses and other public buildings, and its name became the Barrack Board and Board of Works. The body of seven salaried commissioners were made responsible for forts, palaces and other public buildings, including Dublin Castle, specifically covering their furnishing and maintenance. The Surveyor General of the time, who was also, as had been the convention for at least decades, the Engineer General of the Board of Ordnance, raised some concerns about the potential interference of the new commissioners with his role, and in 1761, responsibility for fortifications was moved from the Barrack Board and Board of Works to the Board of Ordnance. However, in 1762, it was decided to abolish the office of Surveyor General, and this was completed by 1763, with most of its work transferred to the Barrack Board and Board of Works, and the remainder was continued by the staff of the Board of Ordnance, within which a reduced version of the role was created.[5]
Establishment[edit]
The office of was created on 15 October 1831 by the Public Works (Ireland) Act 1831, which provided for a body of three Commissioners, with powers to employ staff, pay for works, and make loans to other bodies, accountable quarterly to the Treasury in London.[4] The Westminster Parliament took this step partly to better manage a sum of £500,000 which had been made available to deal with poverty caused by the 1831 famine in Ireland, and partly to reduce the cost and complexity arising from the proliferation of public bodies in the area of public works in Ireland.[6] It was formed to assume the functions of the Commissioners for Public Buildings / Board of Works, the Commissioners and Overseers of Barracks (commonly known as the Barrack(s) Board), and the Directors-General of Inland Navigation (which had taken on the work of the former Fisheries Commissioners). The Office also took on functions from other bodies, most specifically concerned with Ireland, including the Postmaster General and the Public Works Loan Commissioners, which continued to operate for several decades alongside the OPW, but also including the Commissioners for Woods and Forests (a United Kingdom-wide authority).[7] The Commissioners were given the power to pay salaries but not to promise or pay pensions.[4] The body was, and sometimes still is, informally known as the Board of Works, from the name of one of the predecessor authorities.[7]
Organisation[edit]
The Commissioners comprise a Chairman (as of 2021, Maurice Buckley)[29] and two other commissioners. The OPW's management board, which includes the chairman and commissioners, and heads of divisions - including the State Architect - is the group which directs the activities of the Office, and advises the relevant Minister and Minister of State on policy.[30]
The Commissioners of Public Works operate under the mandate of, and are responsible for the exercise of the powers, duties and functions conferred on them by, the Public Works (Ireland) Act 1831 and subsequent legislation, to, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.[31][32] This authority has largely been delegated to the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, to whom the Office's annual report is submitted.[33] The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform remains responsible to Dáil Éireann for the exercise and performance of any powers and duties delegated to the Minister of State, and the use of certain powers by the Commissioners requires ministerial consent.
The staff of the organisation comprise part of the Civil Service of the State. The OPW is a "scheduled Office" under the Public Service Management Act 1997, which sets out arrangements for the management of Departments and Offices and the specification of individual responsibilities and accountability at a senior level. The Chairman of the Commissioners is the administrative Head of the OPW and is also the Accounting Officer for the OPW. The OPW is the subject of a specific Vote of the Oireachtas for annual funding, currently Vote 13, and receives also funding from client departments, offices and agencies - the resulting accounts are submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General annually.[1]
Publications[edit]
Official publications[edit]
The Commissioners of Public Works published an annual report from 1832 and 1939, halting during The Emergency, as World War II was known in Ireland. The report was resumed by the OPW in 1990, and continues to issue annually, with an electronic archive online holding reports since 2000.[3][34]
The OPW also publishes a range of internal documents, including a semi-annual internal magazine, Obair.[35]
Books and booklets[edit]
The OPW has historically published a wide range of books and booklets on Ireland's heritage properties, as well as the State's official gazette, Iris Oifigiúil, copies of bills, Acts of the Oireachtas and various other materials.