An “immediate” review into the costs associated with the construction of a €336,000 bike shelter in Leinster House has been requested by Kieran O’Donnell, Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW).
The cost of the bike shed was revealed in The Irish Times over the weekend. A breakdown of costs from the OPW showed €322,282 was spent on the main construction and installation project.
A further €2,952 was spent on archaeological services while €10,816 was paid for quantity surveying services and “contract administration services”. The shelter required archaeological advice to make sure it fitted in at the parliamentary complex.
At a pre-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday morning, Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the review, saying the costs are “inexcusable and inexplicable”.
[ Bike shed at Leinster House cost more than €335,000Opens in new window ]
[ Eamon Ryan ‘shocked’ at cost of bike shedOpens in new window ]
Mr Harris said while public can see the benefits of bike spaces at workplaces, they do not understand the “extraordinary” costs reported.
“This is the sort of thing that rightly angers and annoys people,” he said, adding that while workplaces should provide spaces for parking bikes, they should not be “lavish” or “extortionate”.
At the same briefing, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee described the cost as “astronomical” and a “phenomenal amount”.
Ms McEntee said an immediate review to see why or how the shelter which accommodates 18 bikes cost €336,000 has been requested by Mr O’Donnell.
Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea has called on the Taoiseach to “name and shame” those responsible for signing off on scheme, saying they should face sanction.
“There’s no good talking about a Department or an office or something like that, there are actually human beings who took these decisions and they should be made accountable,” Mr O’Dea said.
A statement from the OPW said it recognised “the importance of ensuring that public money is spent transparently”.
The construction of the bike shelter involved “several unique challenges”, the OPW said, due to it being located within the setting of Leinster House, “a protected structure of national importance”.
“The structure consists of a steel framed, glazed canopy to ensure long term durability. The materials used, including Irish granite, glass and steel were carefully selected not only for their durability, but also for their compatibility with the historic setting of our national parliament,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan, who is an architect, said the cost of the bike shelter should have been half of the amount revealed on Monday.
“It is hard to see how it can be justifiable” she told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
“It is the cost of constructing a house. It’s not even a shed, it’s an L-shaped canopy. So your bike’s possibly still going to get wet. I think that there are answers that we require. I’m not so keen on what the Minister said this morning that the OPW itself will review that.
“I don’t necessarily see that we need the OPW to put it on the long finger and look at its own work and inquire into itself. We just need the documents to be released.”
Ms Hourigan said the first thing she would be looking for is the tender documents.
Ms Hourigan acknowledged the OPW’s point that it was a “very sensitive site”.
“But I’m not sure it’s a €300,000 sensitive site. And this is effectively a very, very simple structure.””
The Oireachtas had no role in approving funding for a €350,000 bike shed in Leinster House, the Dáil chairman said.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said that while the bike shelter was initially sought by the Houses of Oireachtas Commission on foot of requests made by members of the Oireachtas, it had no role in approving the spending on the project.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl said that in the future the Commission, which provides for the running of the Oireachtas, will seek details of costings associated with improvements or works undertaken on the wider Leinster House complex.
“The Houses of the Oireachtas requested provision of a bike shelter on foot of receipt of representations from members of the Oireachtas,” he told The Irish Times, but said that it was funded from the Office of Public Works’ capital budget and that the Oireachtas had no role “whatsoever” in approving funding.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl said he was “astonished” by the figure but that it was probably linked to the processes and standards required in terms of work on the environs of historic buildings.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has asked the Dáil’s powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to trawl for documents on the process leading up to the construction of the bike shed.
Ms Murphy has written to Committee chair Brian Stanley asking that PAC write to the Office of Public Works and the leadership of the Houses of the Oireachtas, as well as its accounting officer, regarding the installation of the shed.
Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash told reporters on Tuesday that the spending on the bike shelter was “absolutely indefensible”. He said “much more responsibility” had to be shown by State agencies managing public projects.
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