Finance minister Brian Lenihan wants government departments to sell off valuable state properties which may be surplus to requirements to "ease the pressure on the exchequer".

However, Lenihan admitted that as property prices have dropped by 50% since their peak in 2007, now may not be the best time to be sell off the family silver.

"While the values achieved at the height of the property market cannot be expected in the future, a carefully planned disposal programme could be rolled out once more normal conditions have been restored to the financial system," the Department of Finance said in a cost-saving suggestion sent to An Bord Snip Nua.

The department detailed major sales achieved by the OPW during the boom including €170m for the veterinary college on Shelbourne Road, €45m for West Gate on St John's Road and €52m for the offices of the Department of Justice on St Stephen's Green.

It now wants the OPW to prepare an inventory of all state property so it can assess what can be sold and what can be retained.

The department has its sights fixed on the "substantial property portfolios" held by the likes of the HSE, local authorities, Enterprise Ireland, Fás, Teagasc and Coillte. Coillte, for example, has over €1.3bn worth of forestry land.

Property-rich commercial semi-states like the ESB, CIE and RTÉ are different in that they operate on a commercial basis and are allowed to keep their income.

While the Department of Finance acknowledges the semi-states might regard their property as their own and would be reluctant to hand it over to the OPW, it doesn't necessarily agree with this stand.

"These bodies are ultimately owned by the taxpayer and their inclinations need to be subordinated to the public interest in allowing the government bodies generally to have access to property held within the government system."

The extensive property portfolio held by Willie O'Dea's Department of Defence has also come under the radar of the Department of Finance and the OPW. It includes 23 permanently occupied barracks, a number of houses and 20,000 acres of land mainly in the Curragh which is used for military training, the department noted.

It now wants the Department of Defence specifically to open talks with the OPW "with a view to preparing surplus properties for the market".

The Department of Finance also wants the HSE to prepare a detailed list of its corporate estate again to ensure it gets the best value for money from sales, purchases and leases.