JUST five of 25 homes in the Phoenix Park managed by the Office of Public Works are occupied by OPW staff, while 16 are lived in by retired employees or their families, a damning State audit has found.
asserted
audit → manage → employees
A new report, triggered by an investigation by the Irish Daily Mail, found that some tenants were paying as little as €56 to €345 a month in rent for a house in the Dublin park.
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tenants → trigger → park
The audit also found that on a list provided by the OPW of its properties around the country, half ‘were not on its asset register’.
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half → find → register
It was revealed last year by the Irish Mail on Sunday that retired and current civil servants are living effectively rent-free in six ‘ghost houses’ in the Phoenix Park.
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servants → reveal → Park
The revelations led to the arrangements at the residential properties in the park being probed first by the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee and now the Comptroller and Auditor General.
John Brady, Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow and chair of the PAC, told the Mail the report ‘makes for grim reading’ and said the OPW’s management of its property portfolio ‘raises yet more serious questions about whether the State is managing its assets effectively and securing value for money for taxpayers’.
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State → lead → taxpayers
Mr Brady said there were ‘basic failures’ including an absence of a record of rudimentary information such as occupancy, tenancy details, rent payments or even property location.
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Brady → say → occupancy
‘This is no way to do business, and it is certainly no way to manage valuable State assets,’ he said.
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he → do → assets
Mr Brady said there were ‘basic failures’ including an absence of a record of rudimentary information such as occupancy, tenancy details, rent payments or even property location
Mr Brady said some residential properties ‘have been allowed to lie vacant for years’, while those that have been rented out ‘bear no relation to market value’.
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that → say → value
He said: ‘The figures in this report are staggering.
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figures → say → report
The OPW has repeatedly told the PAC that it is taking steps to modernise its systems and rectify these long-standing problems.
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it → tell → problems
But once again, we are being presented with evidence that the same basic failures remain.
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failures → present → evidence
The PAC will continue to highlight these failures until we see meaningful and measurable progress.’
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we → continue → progress
When the Mail published the story last year, the OPW refused to reveal what rents the residents were paying, until the PAC investigation found it is as little as €56 to €345 a month – compared to average rents of more than €2,000 for private tenants in the capital.
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it → publish → capital
The C&AG report has now confirmed for the first time how many State-owned homes in the park are being rented out under the sweetheart deal and who is occupying them – details that were previously secret.
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that → confirm → details
It found that on a list provided by the OPW of its nationwide properties, half ‘were not on its asset register’, including the six ‘ghost houses’ which were uncovered by the Mail.
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which → find → Mail
Over two-thirds (36) of the properties omitted from the OPW asset register, ‘had been assigned to other entities for day-to-day management’.
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thirds → omit → management
But there was ‘no formal agreement’ in place governing the arrangement, the report found.
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report → be → arrangement
A new report, triggered by an investigation by the Irish Daily Mail, found that some tenants were paying as little as €56 to €345 a month in rent for a house in the Dublin park
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tenants → trigger → park
In January 2026, the Revenue Commissioners asked the OPW to carry out a review of its benefit-in-kind obligations regarding residential properties.
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Commissioners → ask → properties
It resulted in a €700,000 settlement that is still being paid to the Revenue.
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that → result → Revenue
Unlike most of the other homes in the Phoenix Park, the six ‘ghost’ homes are managed by Tailte Éireann, the State agency responsible for mapping and property registrations.
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homes → manage → mapping
Tailte Éireann has refused to clarify who is living in the six properties.
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who → refuse → properties
However, the Mail has reported that at least one current staff member, as well as retired staff and family of retired staff members, are living in the secret ‘ghost houses’.
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member → report → houses
Despite having individual Eircodes, the terrace houses are not listed on the Land Registry.
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houses → have → Registry
A seventh property, a detached four-bay, two-storey house, is occupied by a retired civil servant.
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property → occupy → servant
The compound, which comprises the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) offices, also borders the lavish Farmleigh House and Estate, one of the State’s official guesthouses.
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which → comprise → guesthouses
A rear entrance for residents is guarded with CCTV, a security fence and a code-accessed security door.
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entrance → guard → CCTV
The detached four-bay, two-storey house was formerly named the ‘Chief Superintendent’s Residence’ and is now a listed building.
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house → name → ?
The report examined all of the 55 residential properties in the Phoenix Park, 36 of which are managed by the OPW, 12 by An Garda Síochána and seven by Tailte Éireann.
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36 → examine → Éireann
Of the OPW-managed homes, 25 are occupied and 11 are vacant.
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11 → manage → homes
The C&AG found that just five of the houses have current OPW staff living in them, while 11 are occupied by retired or former employees and five are being lived in by surviving spouses or family members of former employees.
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five → find → employees
The C&AG noted that an OPW policy from 2015 ‘stipulates that, upon retirement, all staff residing in an OPW residential property must vacate the property, following notice’, though ‘any request from retired staff to continue to reside in the property can be considered on a case-by-case basis’.
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request → note → basis
Unlike most of the other homes in the Phoenix Park, the six ‘ghost’ homes are managed by Tailte Éireann, the State agency responsible for mapping and property registrations
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homes → manage → mapping
The OPW spent €4.86million on its directly managed Phoenix Park residential properties between 2020 and 2025.
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OPW → spend → 2020
This includes €2.514million on the occupied homes and €2.346million on the vacant properties.
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This → include → properties
This is despite having no ‘inspection policy in respect of its residential properties’ or ‘standard operating procedures for conducting inspections’.
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This → have → inspections
Out of a sample of 20 properties for which inspection/condition reports were sought, the OPW provided reports in respect of nine properties, it was revealed.
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it → seek → properties
The average rent paid on the homes is €169 per month, with the lowest recorded rent found to be just €56 per month and the highest €345 per month.
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highest → pay → month
The C&AG found that €388,000 (excluding VAT) was spent on one of the vacant properties, which was refurbished between 2015 and 2018.
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which → find → 2015
The property was occupied from February 2019 to September 2025.
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property → occupy → September
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
