Heavin calls for new approach to empty State-owned buildings

Independent general election candidate Louise Heavin has called for empty State-owned buildings to be repurposed.

The former Green Party councillor, from Mount Temple, also suggested that a Department of Infrastructure which was recently floated by the Taoiseach could have a role in better utilising public buildings of all types and scales.

She made her comments after admitting she was disheartened by the number of empty State-owned buildings in the Athlone area.

"This wastage of public buildings brings to mind the number of people working every day in unsuitable buildings," she said.

"I think about my Mum who ran mental health day services from a converted corner of a factory building, the nurses in the hospital, when my Dad was sick, working around trollies in the corridors, students and teachers in 30-year-old prefabs, community halls with no heating systems… I could go on."

She said that, where public buildings are concerned, Government departments operate in silos - a system which has the effect of creating a lot of unacknowledged waste.

"The Department of Health looks after hospitals, the Department of Education looks after schools and infrastructure bodies, such as Irish Rail, Uisce Eireann and An Post, look after their own assets and buildings.

"Buildings designed for a specific purpose can be rendered useless once that purpose moves on, the technology evolves or our research and understanding changes," she said.

“In education, when a school becomes redundant we often have a stranded asset, built by the State and owned by the church.

"St Aloysius secondary school on the west side of Athlone, built and maintained by the State over many decades, now lies empty after being sold by the church to a developer. Buildings like hospitals, schools, and train stations, have become useless to the departments themselves, a drain on resources."

She argued that, while she would be supportive of the Taoiseach's idea to create a new Department of Infrastructure, the existing asset management and building units across Government departments should also be centralised into this new department

"This could result in a more efficient pooling of knowledge on public procurement methods, maintenance models, and up-to-date costs. There could be permanent staff employed to continually carry out conditions surveys and prioritise work. There would need to be experts in the various building typologies, like there are in many large architecture practices, and that could also include an expert in reusing, repurposing and retrofitting."

Louise Heavin also called for any such new department to maintain a central register of vacant buildings and brownfield sites.

"A cellular building like St Loman's in Mullingar could be considered ideal as a place for artist's studios or offices, and other quick wins could happen, like the repurposing of nurses' homes on accessible hospital sites to public housing.

"It's time to reclaim stranded assets, like schools, back from the church, as they were funded by the taxpayer.

"Consultation with planners, local authorities and other departments could assess viable community uses in vacant schools. For example, the west side of Athlone would benefit greatly from a centre for arts or a large town museum.

"The Department of Infrastructure and Buildings would assist every department in ensuring value for money in public projects.

"It would help gel towns together where current vacancy and dereliction is breaking them apart. The State could lead the way in repurposing and maybe others will follow," she concluded.