SOME RETIRED PUBLIC servants are paying as little as €12.88 a week to live in State-owned houses in the Phoenix Park, the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been told.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) confirmed to the committee that rents for some properties in the park range from €670 to €4,160 per year, with some homes occupied by retired staff or widowed spouses under what it described as “caretaking arrangements or on compassionate grounds”.

The revelations have prompted sharp criticism from Sinn Féin, which has accused the OPW of operating a “nod-and-a-wink” system at a time when the State is grappling with a housing crisis.

Speaking after yesterday’s PAC meeting, Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne said the arrangements are “a slap in the face” to renters across the country.

“The entire state is in a housing crisis and the fact that senior public servants can get homes, even after retirement, in the picturesque Phoenix Park, in the heart of Dublin, at such inexplicably low rates simply beggars belief,” Byrne said.

Byrne questioned how the rents were set and whether any formal process existed to determine them.

“Who decided these paltry amounts? What processes and procedures, if any, were followed to determine that these figures were appropriate?”

“Or were they decided on a whim?” Byrne added.

The OPW told the committee it owns 55 residential properties in the Phoenix Park, with 36 currently occupied by serving or retired civil servants.

It said the houses form part of historic estates and have traditionally been used to accommodate essential workers who provided maintenance and security services on site.

While employees required to live on site are provided with accommodation as part of their role, the OPW acknowledged that some retired staff continue to occupy properties under extended arrangements.

Opposition TDs said the lack of clarity around how rents are calculated, and whether some properties may be provided rent-free, raises serious governance concerns.

PAC chair and Sinn Féin TD John Brady said the figures disclosed by the OPW showed “no comprehensive or clear approach” to how rents are applied, noting that some occupants pay less than €13 a week for prime State assets while private renters face monthly costs running into the thousands.

The committee has asked that the OPW be formally written to and requested to urgently review the arrangements.

Paris trip

The PAC meeting also examined new correspondence detailing a leadership training course attended by former OPW chairman Maurice Buckley in Paris, at a total cost of almost €40,000 to the taxpayer.

According to the OPW, Buckley attended the INSEAD “Leadership Excellence through Awareness and Practice” programme on three separate occasions between November 2022 and May 2023.

The course itself cost €33,718, while flights, accommodation and subsistence amounted to €6,182.

The committee was told that OPW’s human resources unit raised concerns about the expense of the course, the associated travel costs, the amount of time Buckley would spend away from the office, and the fact that he had a relatively short period left on his contract.

Despite those concerns, Buckley proceeded with the course.

Half of the programme cost was ultimately covered by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with the OPW paying the remaining €16,859.

Sinn Féin TD John Brady said it was “deeply concerning” that the former chairman appeared to have effectively approved the expenditure himself.

“It beggars belief that the former Chairman had the authority to sign off on such expenditure unilaterally,” Brady said.

Where was the Minister’s oversight of the OPW in this case, and in other instances, of serious and wasteful misuse of public funds?

Brady added that PAC will seek further clarity on how such spending decisions are approved across State bodies.

The committee has asked that the OPW be formally written to and requested to urgently review both the Phoenix Park rental arrangements and its internal approval processes.

The OPW has said it will engage further with the committee on the matter.