THE €336,000 PROJECT to construct a bike shelter at Leinster House was hit by delays with concerns over the removal of car parking spaces for TDs and Senators as well as challenges over when work was allowed or not.

Internal records from the Oireachtas show the completion date for the controversial project slipped repeatedly.

Strict conditions were also put in place for the project on when work could take place, to ensure “full dust containment” and avoid any debris ending up in easily blocked historic drains.

The records go at least some way to help explain why the project proved so costly, with the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Feargháil telling the Dáil this week the final €336,051 bill was a “profound embarrassment”.

A meeting between the OPW and the Oireachtas last September was told that the foundations for the project were to be laid in the coming weeks but that “effectively work can now only proceed during non-sitting periods”.

Notes of the meeting said: “A completion date will be around the 14th [of] January whereby the car parking spaces [for TDs and Senators] will be returned for use.”

By the following month, the project still appeared to be on track with “fabrication in process” and the “handover” date still set for mid-January.

However, by the time January came, the project was nowhere near finished with minutes of a meeting saying the new completion date was now the second week of March.

By February, progress was delayed again – this time until the end of March and after the St Patrick’s Day break. The documents also detail how the Oireachtas were worried about the temporary loss of parking spaces for politicians.

One email between officials last September said: “[We have been asked] to ensure that the hoarding around the proposed bicycle parking is removed before the sittings resume.

“We have lost approximately ten parking spaces due to the hoarding, and that loss is not tenable once members return.”

Another email from last September explained how the original plans for the shelter had included the provision of EV charging points for bicycles.

However, that was dropped due to what was seen as a “significant fire risk”.

An email said: “We had included for EV charging later in the design, but this will now be omitted.”

The update also detailed how the site for the shelter near Leinster Lawn had been chosen “for visibility and in support of sustainable transport.”

The message said: “The ground works are underway, and the specialist shelter fabrication has been contracted.

“These works were sequenced to allow Phase 1 of infrastructure for EV car charging to proceed without other contractors in the area for health and safety reasons.”

Another message in January explained how contractors had unexpectedly “encountered large blocks of concrete” which needed to be removed.

An email said: “I am talking to the [National] Gallery also re this but instructing [contractor] to go ahead and start removal of two central ones which are less dense.

“Will contact you when this is being done so we can take a view on site on the noise impact … cognisant that the Dáil is sitting … so if too noisy may need to hold off.”

One message from February detailed ongoing challenges involved in the project.

A series of comments on progress said: “Ensure full dust containment during stone cutting – close access for National Gallery/Leinster House staff, visitors etc and building/collections adjacent.”

Another note said: “Ensure all drainage is protected from debris and run off … very important – historic drains and issues with drainage.”

By the end of February, another issue had arisen where there were space constraints around moving the frame for the shelter.

“We didn’t take into consideration the space required for lifting the structure of the bike shelter,” said a message from the contractor.

Even the election of Taoiseach Simon Harris proved a headache for the project as it rumbled on into late March, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

An email between officials said: “The election of the Taoiseach is Tuesday 9th and therefore Monday 8th might mean no access for works on the bike parking on the Merrion side.”

Asked about the records, an Oireachtas spokeswoman said: “The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission had no role in relation to the approval of capital expenditure for the bicycle shelter in Leinster House. The cost was not paid from the Commission’s budget.”

She said that a plan for the provision of a bicycle shelter had been brought before the Oireachtas Commission in June 2021 and was approved.

Public Accounts Committee

Meanwhile, the Office of Public Works has been invited to appear before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer questions on the Leinster House bicycle shed on 10 October.

TD Brian Stanley, who is the chairperson of the powerful committee, confirmed the invitation at a PAC meeting today.

It emerged earlier this month that more than €335,000 of public money was spent on a recently installed bicycle shelter at Leinster House. As the owner of Leinster House, the OPW is responsible for any works carried out on the site.

Stanley confirmed today that PAC is requesting a number of documents from the OPW in relation to the bicycle shed.

These include all documents relating to the contract or contracts for its design, planning and construction. As well as a breakdown of all costs and a schedule of decision makers and managers working on the project.

The 10 October was chosen as the date to allow PAC to first receive a Comptroller and Auditor General report that is expected to include information relating to the bicycle shelter.

PAC member Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe told the committee today:

“We have to be proportionate here. €335,000 in the context of what we deal with here, week in, week out, is a very small amount, but I think it strikes to the heart of people’s confidence in how we, how the state spends money.
He added that it will be important to find out if there was any political oversight of the bicycle shelter decision.

“We have to find out who the decision makers were. If there was no involvement or sign-off by elected members of this we have to ask that question, why? And I think that is a flaw in the system that works can take place in this building, and that there can be no political oversight of that,” McAuliffe said.

Yesterday, as the Dáil returned for the first time after the summer recess Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl described the bicycle shed debacle as a “profound embarrassment”.

The chairperson of the OPW John Conlon has been invited by Ó Fearghaíl to a meeting next week to answer questions on the bicycle shed.