Despite the shortfall in office space, total take-up in the Dublin metropolitan area last year reached 1.8 million sq ft, according to the latest report on the office market by Insignia Richard Ellis Gunne. With the scarcity particularly evident in the city centre, two-thirds of the space committed was located in the suburbs. Dublin 2 and 4 accounted for 18 per cent of lettings while the docklands provided only 6 per cent of the lettings.

The most surprising finding in the report is that 50 per cent of the take-up last year was in buildings still under construction. Another 29 per cent went to newly completed premises. Only 1 per cent went to the Georgian market where rents have risen from £14 in 1996 to a high of £40. Rents in new buildings are likely to reach £42 a sq ft this year according to the report. The re-entry of the public sector into the office market meant that the OPW booked 14 per cent of all space in the Dublin area.