LAST UPDATE | 25 Sep
THE CHAIRPERSON OF the Office of Public Works (OPW) John Conlon has said the cost €336,000 bike shelter at Leinster House in Dublin would’ve been “far, far lower” if it were constructed at the location it initially proposed.
During a meeting of the Oireachtas Finance Committee today, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett asked if there was any truth to reports that the OPW had originally proposed that the project be located at a different area of the campus.
Conlon confirmed that the OPW had originally planned for the bike shelter to be placed next to the Members’ Restaurant on the Leinster House campus but the proposal was rejected over security concerns.
The new bike shelter is placed at the back of the campus and is viewable from the public footpath at the entrance of Leinster House on Merrion Street Upper in the city centre.
Documents revealing the cost of the project focused public attention on the use of public funds and caused outrage among politicians soon after the details of pricing was published.
Conlon, responding to a question by Boyd Barrett over the difference in the price for both locations, said the cost would’ve been “far, far lower” if it were located at the originally proposed area.
Boyd Barrett said:
“I’m baffled. As somebody who walks from [Agriculture] House into Leinster House every, single day, why that wouldn’t have been a perfectly suitable location.”
Earlier in the meeting, it was put to the management that the bike shelter would not protect bicycles from the rain as the roof of the structure was facing the wall. The management claimed that it was part of the original plans.
Conlon told TDs while he accepts the €336,000 price tag was an “extraordinary cost”, he did not accept that taxpayer money was wasted.
He said in his opening statement that the price of the 36-space bike shelter was “not acceptable in the wider context of value for money and value for the taxpayer”.
Conlon – who has recently also been appointed as the Accounting Officer of the OPW – added that he has taken immediate steps to review the Governance structures inside the agency since the cost of the bike shelter was first reported.
This includes a downward revision of project approval thresholds – meaning upper management at the OPW must now approve of any plans that cost €200,000 or more. Previously, it was later admitted, the threshold was €1 million.
Asked by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty if he believes taxpayer money was “wasted” on the bike shelter, Conlon said:
“I don’t accept it was a waste of taxpayers’ money. I do accept it was very, very expensive.”
Doherty added that it was clear, despite making changes to the thresholds only yesterday, that the OPW had not learnt from previous occasions where an “enormous” amount of public money had been spent.
Doherty pointed to the cost of the shop, in a glass structure located the front entrance of Leinster House, which had gone over budget by more than €500,000 in 2014. The TD said that lessons should’ve been learnt at that point.
Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh later asked the management of the OPW what reason does the public have to believe that lessons would be learnt arising from the bike shelter controversy.
Conlon defended his position: “I am the new accounting officer. I’m bringing a fresh approach to this, Deputy. I’m going to do my best in this case.”
But later it was revealed that the new security hut located at the back of the campus had cost €1.429 million. Conlon said the vast amount of costs for that project were attributed to the security protocols that were to be carried out.
A review by OPW also found that a bike shelter erected on the grounds of Leinster House came at an “extraordinary cost” that was “completely not acceptable”. During the committee meeting, it was said that the Minister for the OPW had accepted the report.
Many in Leinster House have since expressed disappointment over the amount of money that was spent on the bike shelter, which holds 36 bicycles, and the Taoiseach and other ministers ordered the report into the decision-making process.
The OPW’s Accounting Officer John Conlon has said that the cost was not acceptable “in the wider context of value for money and value for the taxpayer”.
“It is an extraordinary cost for the provision of a covered bicycle parking facility and one which the OPW has to seriously reflect on.” He said the OPW will also get an external audit of the project, to “ensure full transparency”.
Inflation in the construction industry, flood defences and mitigation measures, insurance against natural disasters and the climate impact on areas prone to frequent flooding were also scheduled to be discussed today.
Some TDs, such as Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, have called for the person who signed off on the bike shed deal to lose their job though Government leaders are in favour a probe that will instead make sure a similar use of public money does not happen again.
New documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by journalist Ken Foxe, later revealed how concerns over dust, alterations to the original plans and the timing of Dáil sittings had repeatedly delayed the project.
Speaking during the first Leaders’ Questions session after the Dáil’s summer recess, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl described the issue as a “profound embarrassment” and said the depth of public anger was justified.
Overspending of public funds will be central at issues discussed between members of the Oireachtas later today, as the Health Committee also prepare to hear a submission from the board overseeing the delayed National Children’s Hospital.
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