Office of Public Works

The Office of Public Works (OPW; Irish: Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, though the full title is rarely used) is a State Agency of the Department of Finance in Ireland. Its chief responsibility is the ownership, upkeep, and maintenance of Government of Ireland and historic buildings in Ireland.

Role

The agency also provides election, procurement and printing services for government. The office also historically had responsibility for drainage schemes and other large civil and public engineering projects. The office is in charge of the Government Supplies Agency which issues the Irish Statute Book and in particular the Iris Oifigiúil magazine.

History

The office was created on 15 October 1831, initially it was known as the Board of Works. It was formed out of the merger of the Office of the Surveyor-General for Ireland, the Barracks Board, and Navigation Board. The OPW had responsibility for the majority of heritage sites in Ireland prior to 1996. In 1996 the management of most of these sites was transferred to a separate agency, Dúchas - The Heritage Service, which adopted a stylised version of the traditional OPW logo, with the OPW changing its logo to match its new focus on its buildings and maintenance functions. In 2003 Dúchas was wound up and most of its functions are now operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Functions not transferred to NPWS reverted to being OPW functions, which mainly relate to built heritage sites; these functions are operated under the title of "Heritage Ireland".

Public works

Public works (or internal improvements historically in the United States) are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings (municipal buildings, schools, hospitals), transport infrastructure (roads, railroads, bridges, pipelines, canals, ports, airports), public spaces (public squares, parks, beaches), public services (water supply, sewage, electrical grid, dams), and other, usually long-term, physical assets and facilities. Though often interchangeable with public infrastructure and public capital, public works does not necessarily carry an economic component, thereby being a broader term.

Overview

Public works is a multi-dimensional concept in economics and politics, touching on multiple arenas including: recreation (parks, beaches), aesthetics (trees, green space), economy (goods and people movement, energy), law (police and courts), and neighborhood (community centers, social services buildings). Essentially, it represents any constructed object that augments a nation's physical infrastructure.