The Government is preparing to offload surplus buildings and sites, following the completion of a comprehensive audit of State-owned property by the Office of Public Works.
In a move that will be widely seen as another attempt to "balance the State books", sites in Dublin likely to be sold include several acres between the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham and Heuston Station and a site adjoining the National Archives in Bishop Street.
Mr Tom Parlon, Minister of State at the OPW, told The Irish Times yesterday that all options were being examined - including the sale of under-utilised Garda stations in towns and villages after new facilities were provided to replace them.
The larger sites in Dublin are likely to be sold or developed by public-private partnerships (PPPs).
An action plan is being finalised showing how the OPW land on St John's Road could be developed in conjunction with a large site in the immediate vicinity owned by Eircom plc as a new "Gateway to Dublin" from the west, flanking Heuston Station.
Surplus land surrounding the Garda station in Tallaght - dubbed "the Ranch", after it was built in the mid-1980s - is also likely to be sold for development as part of the designated town centre zone to the north and east of The Square shopping centre.
Mr Parlon said he was determined that the OPW would not be "spancilled" by the current Exchequer difficulties. His objective was to "extract the value of what we have that's surplus to requirements and translate it into continued development".
He would be working closely with Mr Sean Benton, the commissioner in charge of State property, whose appointment as chairman of the Commissioners of Public Works was announced yesterday. He will take over from Mr Barry Murphy on November 7th.
Mr Parlon said "a lot of property could be released" by the initiative, including land and buildings occupied by State agencies, following completion of the audit. This would involve entering every State-owned property on a single computerised database at the OPW.
He also foresaw the OPW becoming more involved in project management, for which Mr Benton has been responsible in recent years.
This would include managing such projects as the proposed redevelopment of the north quays in Waterford.
Mr Parlon said he was only now "getting stuck in" to his job at the OPW after serving as campaign director for the Progressive Democrats during the Nice Treaty referendum.
He became Minister of State after being elected to the Dáil for the first time last May.
Formerly president of the Irish Farmers' Association, he represents Laois-Offaly and said he was enjoying his new role "on the other side of the fence" sitting alongside senior officials of the Department of Finance with whom he had previously negotiated.
Asked how much money was likely to be raised from the sale of surplus State property, he said it was "too early to say". He stressed, however, that there was no question of closing rural Garda stations before alternative facilities were provided.
