Energy bills increased for Department of Health in Hawkins House

The Department has been participating in the OPW ‘Optimising Power at Work’ scheme since 2007.

Yet, according to the Department’s Annual Report 2017, which was recently published, overall energy consumption in Hawkins House for the period 2017 has shown an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to 2007.

This is primarily explained by a substantial increase in gas consumption over the year, where a 33.3 per cent increase on the base year was evident.

“This reflects the condition of Hawkins House,” according to the report.

However, electricity consumption continued to perform better, with a saving of 26 per cent achieved at the end of 2017.

The Department continued with a range of initiatives to improve energy performance, including: Improvements from the ‘turn-off’ initiative,  with a particular focus on all personal computers being shut down at 10pm nightly, if they have not already been shut down by the user; monitoring of time clocks on mechanical and electrical systems; monthly energy reporting; and BMS (Building Maintenance System) maintenance.

The Department recently completed its move to Block 1, Miesian Plaza on Baggot Street, from Hawkins House, which is due for demolition.

The Annual Report also showed that at the end of December 2017, there were 434 whole-time equivalent (WTE) staff in the Department.

The Department has responsibility for implementation of 139 (18 per cent) of the 776 total commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government. The Department managed a budget of almost €15 billion in 2017, the second-largest budget of all Departments, after the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. This allocation was disbursed as €39.87 million to the Department, €14.39 billion to the HSE, €105.18 million to other agencies and €74.5 million to research.

Also, an analysis of the Department’s performance regarding prompt payment legislation showed that 89 per cent of payments (2,742) were made within 15 days.

The report shows 9 per cent of payments made within 16 days to 30 days, and 2 per cent were paid in excess of 30 days.

The total prompt payment compensation and interest paid by the Department in 2017 was €3,646.