Allen Morgan, a long-serving member of the Office of Public Works (OPW), made damaging allegations about fiscal mismanagement in the public sector. After almost four decades witnessing dubious property transactions and financial waste, he decided to bring these issues to the forefront of political conversations.
In his role as a high-ranking valuer, he compiled an internal report known as the “five case review” with a colleague just before his retirement in 2017. The report scrutinised five unprofitable property deals conducted by the OPW, the government’s de facto property overseer.
In 2021, Mr. Morgan revealed these findings on a RTÉ Investigates programme, sparking short-term media interest and questions from the Public Accounts Committee. However, the story quickly lost traction.
Three years on, the OPW is once again in media spotlight, though not due to any dubious dealings Mr. Morgan could point out. Some of these were transactions worth millions of euros. Instead, the OPW is now facing scrutiny for its spending on a bicycle shelter.
News of these allegations found their way to international media outlets such as the Guardian and the BBC, and were also used by Sinn Féin for online attacks against the government. In response, Kieran O’Donnell, the Minister of State responsible for the OPW, ordered an immediate review of the situation. Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan expressed his shock at the financial mismanagement, while Taoiseach Simon Harris, despite his busy trip to Ukraine, labelled the costs as “unfathomable and unjustifiable”.
The OPW, on the other hand, justified the bicycle-shelter spend, citing that it complied with public procurement and planning guidelines and was procured through a framework agreement. They also emphasised their commitment to public fund transparency.
Mr. Morgan discussed an instance where a bicycle shed’s cost was equated to a residential property’s value, highlighting the open subject he wished to debate. He reasoned that the populace recognises the price of 20 bike shelters in comparison to a home which is stated as €335,000. A commonly cited example is a well-known printer that couldn’t be accommodated in Leinster House. The issue usually lies with smaller high-profile cases, rather than grander affairs.
Large sums of money are regularly mismanaged or overlooked due to the Office of Public Works (OPW) lack of concern with achieving value for money, a pattern seen across multiple projects. If further spending is required to rectify a problem, the OPW willingly complies, abandoning any pretense of financial control or accountability.
Mr. Morgan’s analysis focused on five specific dealings that flagrantly exhibit poor judgment and rampant waste. One such example is the €5.5 million expenditure to acquire ageing apartments adjacent to Dublin’s National Gallery, in which a colossal €550,000 went towards service fees. In another deal, a disastrous acquisition of farmland for an intended super-prison at Thornton Hall in north Dublin was made at an exorbitant asking price of nearly €30 million. The property’s recent appraisal stood at only €6.5 million.
Historically, this mishandling has been persistent. In 2004, the OPW had initially estimated a flood relief project’s expense in Co Kilkenny to be around €13 million, which eventually spiraled up to €48 million—a disturbing increase. Former comptroller and auditor general John Purcell referred to the event as dealing with a “movable feast”. Even Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness recalled the scheme, terming it “beyond belief”. The original budget for the said project was merely €4 million to €5 million. This mishap is still referenced by politicians and public officials as a tutorial of ‘what not to do’.
Mr McGuinness, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, expressed his disdain for the repeated instances of misjudged public expenses he’s come across, saying they were too numerous to be contained within the Leinster House. He blamed each successive government for disregarding serious reform of public sector spending.
He used the example of a small garden shed on one end of the scale, and a children’s hospital at the other end, to illustrate the lack of significant changes. Mr. McGuinness opined that if a private sector firm behaved in the same manner as public bodies like the OPW, such a firm wouldn’t survive very long. He added they demonstrated no intent to establish a system that would at least prevent some irresponsible spending.
The problems Mr Morgan pointed out persisted even after his retirement. A fault in the measurement of workspace at Miesian Plaza, now the Department of Health’s location, led to a rental overpayment of €10 million. The OPW and the landlord subsequently reached a compromise agreement.
A couple of years back, An Garda Síochána occupied an €86.6 million newly erected command centre in Kilmainham, Dublin. However, by the time of occupation, the building was too small to accommodate everyone meant to relocate there.
More recently, planning consent was knocked through for a new family court complex to be established at a perpetually vacant property at Hammond Lane, near Four Courts in Dublin. Despite this, rising construction prices have considerably reduced the project’s scale, and this prime plot of land will not be fully optimised.
Mr Morgan criticised the decision to cut the budget which resulted in decreasing the building’s size. He stated that the chance to effectively utilise the site has now been squandered. He cited the same issue with the new Garda facility in Kilmainham, where he claimed the land choice was always “sub-optimal”.
He stated the site was never the preferred choice, but they were compelled to examine sites which covered a minimum of 10 acres and despite being further from the city centre. Ideally, such sites would provide the ability to expand as required in the future. Each erroneous decision in this regard leads to increased funding, planning time, and cost, regrettably.
In the later part of July, Allen Morgan expressed his thoughts on yet another situation involving the OPW – The planned development of a new science museum for children in Dublin, situated at the National Concert Hall’s site. According to a report by RTÉ Prime Time, a hefty penalty would be borne by the OPW for withdrawing from the project. A legal perspective suggested the potential requirement for the OPW to cover construction costs of up to €26 million “in theory”, placing the OPW in a position where continuation of the project is inevitable.
Said Mr Morgan, “It’s similar to previous instances of overspending – Having seen the legal views, I found myself wondering how we ended up in such a situation. The current estimated cost for the museum is €70 million and it could easily escalate to €100 million. I am unsure of the solution.”
Mr. Morgan, a retired valuer, highlighted examples in foreign nations where a commercial semi-State agency might manage properties on the state’s behalf.
He questioned, “I genuinely don’t know how to rectify this.”
Mr. Morgan suggested the potential introduction of a semi-autonomous body consisting of specialists. He rubbished recent ideas put forth by Simon Harris to create a fresh Department of Infrastructure to oversee capital projects.
According to him, “An Infrastructure Department is merely shuffling bureaucrats into another structure.”
Mr. McGuinness, who has had extensive political experience scrutinizing public spending and wastage, holds one conviction, “This situation will repeat.”
In his words, “We will hear about the next financial windfall, then the focus shifts and we are back to dealing with the same issues the following year.”