LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago

A REVIEW BY the Office of Public Works (OPW) has found that a bike shelter erected on the grounds of Leinster House came at an “extraordinary cost” that was “completely not acceptable”.

The OPW is to appear before the Oireachtas Finance and Public Expenditure Committee later today to discuss the installation of the shelter that cost €336,000 in total.

Documents revealing the cost of the project, located at the back of the campus, focused public attention on the use of public funds and caused outrage among politicians soon after the details of pricing was published.

Many in Leinster House have since expressed disappointment over the amount of money that was spent on the bike shelter, which holds 18 bicycles, and the Taoiseach and other ministers ordered the report into the decision-making process.

The OPW’s Accounting Officer 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.”

They said they will also get an external audit of the project, to “ensure full transparency”.

They also pledged to introduce an additional step in the governance process whereby all projects between €200,000 and €500,000 must have an initial cost and value-for-money assessment and be presented to the relevant Management Board member for approval if they are to proceed.

“Approval/financial thresholds for all grades will be reviewed and revised downwards.”

The estimated cost of the project was initially €350,000 – more than the end result.

The review said this was “not consistent with the scale of the project under consideration”.

Oireachtas Committee

Speaking ahead of the meeting, which begins at 1.30pm this afternoon, Committee Chair and Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said: “Members are interested in hearing from the OPW on two matters of concern to the Committee: the installation of the new bicycle shelter in the grounds of Leinster House and the proposed construction of a new children’s science museum in Dublin city centre.”

Other areas of interest, according to McGuiness, are inflation in the construction industry, flood defences and mitigation measures, insurance against natural disasters and the climate impact on areas prone to frequent flooding. 

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.