THE GOVERNMENT is paying more than €4 million a year to rent office space from a subsidiary of Anglo Irish Bank, latest figures show.
Overall, the State is paying €100 million in rent for buildings owned by investors who include property developers such as Liam Carroll and Bernard McNamara.
The most expensive property rented to the State is the headquarters of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources at 29-31 Adelaide Road.
The building, owned by Anglo Irish Assurance - a division of Anglo Irish Bank - charges the department rent of €2.97 million per year.
The same company also owns part of a building at Harcourt Square, which is rented to the Garda at a cost of €1.27 million per year.
The Office of Public Works, which is responsible for renting the properties, says it has been reviewing the amount its pays in renting public buildings in light of declining rents.
While it is able to negotiate new contracts downwards, it is locked into many longer term contracts where it is unable to lower rents.
Overall, one of the biggest landlords is the insurance firm Irish Life Assurance, which earned close to €10 million from renting more than a dozen properties to the State.
These include Davitt House on Adelaide Road (€1.7 million), rented by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, as well as part of the Irish Life Centre (€1.3 million) which is used by the Valuation Office.
Another major landlord is property developer John Dwyer who earns in excess of €5 million for properties at Parnell Square and elsewhere which are rented by the Department of Enterprise and State agencies such as the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
Rents for these properties were paid to three firms in which he is involved - Alstead Securities, Carlisle Trust and Dublin City Estates.
Troubled property developer Bernard McNamara is also a landlord to the Government.
His company, Belltrap Ltd - in which he is listed as a joint owner with Jeremiah O'Reilly - earned about €4 million in rent for properties leased to the Revenue Commissioners and the Departments of Justice and Social Protection.
Liam Carroll and his wife earned more than €2m renting properties to the Civil Service Commission and the Ombudsman for Children. Mr Carroll's company Danninger also has several leases, including a property at North King Street rented to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Businessman and former AIB chairman Lochlann Quinn is listed as the landlord for a building on Lower Mount Street which is rented by the Revenue Commissioners.
High-profile businessman Larry Goodman is an owner or part-owner in eight properties rented to the State which earn close to €8 million a year. One of his companies, Reverie, is the owner of offices at the Setanta Centre in Nassau Street, Dublin 2, which is rented to several State agencies and Government departments.
TOP FIVE MOST EXPENSIVE BUILDINGS LEASED BY THE STATE
- Department of Energy and Natural Resources HQ, Adelaide Road, Dublin. Rent: €2.97 million. Landlord: Anglo Irish Assurance
- Molesworth Buildings, Dublin 2. Rented by departments of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Transport and the Oireachtas. Rent: €2.3 million. Landlord: Irish Airlines Pensions Ltd & AGS (ROI) Pensions Nominees
- Lower Grand Canal Street, Dublin 2. Used by Civil Service and Local Appointment Commissioners and other agencies. Rent: €1.9 million. Landlord: Tom and Deirdre Jones, Nutley Ave, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
- Harcourt Square, Block 2. Rented by An Garda Síochána. Rent: €1.8 million. Landlord: Alvergold Ltd
- 13-15 Parnell Square, Parnell House, Dublin 1. Rent: €1.8 million. Landlord: Alstead Securities Ltd