Department of Housing to receive 68% more funding for office expenses

Funding for office expenses at the Department of Housing will increase 68 per cent next year.

It is just one of a series of Government departments to get a major uplift to meet the cost of providing office space for staff. The Department of Foreign Affairs is receiving an additional €11.5 million – an increase of 43 per cent – bringing its total funding €38.3 million while the 2019 estimate for the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is 53 per cent higher than this year at €1.52 million.

The Department of Housing, which has four offices listed on its website including Dublin’s Custom House, will see its capital budget increase by €1.7 million to €3 million and its current budget increase marginally to almost €1.6 million – a total of €4.6 million.

“Given the age of some of the buildings that the department occupies and the limited expenditure over a significant period of time, provision has been made in the capital budget for works to maintain these buildings,” a department spokeswoman said.

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Overall, the department’s administration budget is to increase by 15 per cent next year to €74.6 million, including a significant rise in the cost of office equipment and external IT services.

Its programme expenditure is to increase by 23 per cent to €3.9 billion, with a significant rise for planning funding and housing.

Upgrade works

Figures contained in the “estimates for public services” document which accompanied the budget announcement earlier this week show a number of departments and agencies expect expenses for offices to rise next year.

A CSO spokesman said its increase reflected the "pressing requirement for essential physical environment renovation and upgrade works" next year for the agency's mature premises in Rathmines, Dublin and Skehard Road, Cork.

“The year-on-year increase of 53 per cent should be read in the context of a level allocation across both 2017 and 2018, meaning that several elements of upgrading and maintenance works that would otherwise have been progressed in this calendar year were forcibly postponed,” the spokesman added.