OPW awards €2m contract for energy savings project to firm with Direct Provision contracts

Anglesea Street garda station in Cork city is one of 60 buildings in Munster that will be part of the project. Photo: Denis Minihane

The Office of Public Works has awarded a contract worth over €2 million to Aramark for a project aimed at achieving 30% savings on energy consumption at public buildings.

Achieving these savings will make “a significant contribution to the overall public service target savings as guided by the National Climate Action Plan 2021”, the OPW said.

The move comes at a time when households across the country are dealing with surging costs for gas and electricity, with the main suppliers set to hike their rates in the coming weeks.

The Irish Examiner reported late last year that one Government department’s spending on electricity and heating increased by almost €500,000 in 2020, despite the majority of civil servants working from home during the pandemic.

The Department of Social Protection said it was because all of its buildings had to remain open for longer across the pandemic.

The OPW has been running a campaign across Central Government buildings since 2008 aimed at cutting down energy consumption. 

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The campaign currently operates in around 275 such buildings around the country. It said that existing savings are around 20% across all participating OPW buildings.

It wants the campaign to focus on monitoring energy consumption, changing staff behaviours, eliminating waste and identifying “low-cost capital investment projects where a low level of investment leads to a quick payback”.

Getting staff to take part in energy saving initiatives offers “significant opportunities”, the OPW said.

“Energy consumption data is recorded in each building using dedicated monitoring systems,” it said. “The campaign primarily involves working with the staff in each building to effect behavioural change with regard to energy usage and eliminating energy wastage.” 

It proposed that the winning bidder, which has been confirmed as Aramark, should “organise workshops, talks/lectures, poster campaigns, electronic reports, local competitions etc” to get staff involved in energy-saving activities.

It also requires a detailed energy audit of each facility. It includes over 60 buildings in Munster, of which 14 are in Cork. This includes Anglesea Garda Station, the Central Statistics Office in Mahon, and the Department of Agriculture offices in Clonakilty.

Aramark is a large multinational corporation that recently hit the headlines after it was awarded a catering contract by the National Gallery of Ireland.

Staff and artists criticised the move, citing the several millions of euro Aramark makes each year from its contracts at Direct Provision centres. Three artists requested their work be removed from the gallery in the wake of the contract being awarded.

The National Gallery defended its decision and said it had awarded the contract following a public procurement process where Aramark had scored highest against the assessment criteria.