The C&AG report identifies shortcomings in how the Office of Public Works (OPW) manages 92 residential properties across the diverse portfolio of buildings for which it is responsible.
More than half of these are in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, with the remainder in other locations around the State.
An examination of how the OPW monitors and manages these properties found an absence of formal arrangements for the management of 36 of them by other entities.
The report also looks at rental income from the properties in question and how this is overseen. In one instance a recently drafted tenancy agreement had no provision for a rent review.
Of 34 residential properties in the Phoenix Park, rent was being paid on 13, with no rent due on the remaining buildings.
The OPW received an average monthly rent for the above dwellings of €169, when the 2024 market rate for similar properties was €1,750 per month.
While guidelines stipulate that personnel living in buildings in the Phoenix Park should vacate them on retirement, the report finds there has been an 83% increase in the number occupied by OPW retirees since 2015.
The report also finds there is an absence of a formal inspection regime, which it says could result in undetected health and safety issues, along with a failure to identify unauthorised subletting or illegal activity.
The C&AG recommends that a complete, accurate and up-to-date inventory of all residential properties owned by the OPW be compiled.
It goes on to state that clear proposals for all vacant residential properties be formulated, to ensure best use and value for money.
The report sets timelines of December 2026 and June 2027 for completion of the recommendations.
