A “beautiful” security hut at Government Buildings cost more than €1.4 million, TDs and Senators have been told.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called the cost of the hut “ridiculous” and said he was shocked to hear the figure.
However, chairman of the Office of Public Works (OPW), John Conlon, said he does not believe the cost of the hut is excessive, given the “hidden” work carried out related to security and communications needs.
The details of the cost of the security structure emerged as OPW representatives appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure to be quizzed on the controversial €336,000 Leinster House bike shelter.
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Green Party TD Steven Matthews asked Mr Conlon about the cost of the “very attractive security hut with a sweeping copper clad roof”, and was told it came to €1.429 million. Mr Conlon said he wanted to emphasise it followed “an extensive review of security in this campus” with the Garda.
He said: “Whilst it looks like it is a fairly significant cost, there are very significant mechanical, electrical, security system costs on that.” There was also a “significant cost” for a temporary structure while the building was taking place.
He also stressed it was a “completely different” project to the bike shelter.
Mr Matthews said: “It’s a beautiful structure”, but asked if the price was excessive.
Mr Conlon replied: “I don’t believe it is given the significant security dimensions.”
There was “a huge amount of networking”, including power, communications, security and CCTV systems and, Mr Conlon said, “There’s far more to that project than meets the eye”.
Mr Matthews asked the OPW representatives to provide the committee with a breakdown of the costs.
Meanwhile, documents released by the OPW suggest that the body that runs the Leinster House campus, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission rejected as unacceptable a “cost-effective” option for €336,000 bike shelter to be located elsewhere on the grounds.
An OPW report on the bike shed construction shows that during consultations on the project in April 2021, it communicated that its “preferred option” was for a facility deeper inside the complex of buildings, on the West Road close to the members’ restaurant.
“The positives were that it was ‘out of sight’, adjacent to an entrance, would not impact on listed buildings and would likely be a cost-effective option to deliver,” the report states.
It continues: “The OPW understood that this option would require operational changes relating to security and circulation which were not insurmountable.”
However, it outlines that members of the Oireachtas Commission, a body largely composed of politicians and chaired by Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail, “indicated that provision of covered or uncovered bicycle parking in the West Road was not an acceptable proposition. This was supported by security advice”.
The report outlines that the Commission asked that covered bike parking with potential for provision of charging systems for e-bikes be provided on the Merrion Square side of Leinster House, as close to Leinster House as possible.
In June 2021, the OPW presented a plan for the bike shed to the Oireachtas Commission, which approved the plan, but no estimates or costings were presented at this juncture.
Mr Conlon told Wednesday’s committee meeting that “in future, the OPW will ensure that the Oireachtas Commission is fully informed of costs for all elective projects in Leinster House”.
An Oireachtas statement said: “To baldly state that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission rejected as unacceptable a “cost-effective” option for a bicycle shelter in Leinster House is simply untrue.”
It added: “The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has no role in relation to the approval of capital expenditure including for the bicycle shelter in Leinster House.
“The cost was not paid from the Commission’s budget nor was the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission advised at any stage of what we all now know to be excessive expenditure.
“In very simple terms, the OPW is the landlord and we are the tenants.”
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