MINISTER PATRICK O’DONOVAN has moved to distance himself from significant Office of Public Works (OPW) spending, claiming that he was “not responsible” for the cost of the Leinster House bicycle shed.

O’Donovan, now Minister for Higher Education, was Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW from July 2020 until April 2024. 

In recent weeks the OPW has made headlines, first for its €336,000 spend on a bicycle shelter in Leinster House and more recently for the €1.4m spend on a security hut, also at Leinster House. 

It was also reported this week that modular homes for Ukrainian refugees, a project being led by the OPW, are now expected to cost €442,000 per unit, more than double the initial estimate of €200,000. 

Speaking to reporters at a post-Budget press conference today, O’Donovan said that he only learned of the price of the €1.4mn security hut when it was revealed in an Oireachtas committee last week. 

The minister also rejected that he had any responsibility for the cost of any of the above projects, despite them all commencing during his time as minister of state. 

Yesterday, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said he was “embarrassed” by the cost of the bicycle shed and that he “accepts responsibility” as minister with responsibility for public spending. 

When asked specifically if he also accepts any responsibility for the bicycle shed, O’Donovan replied: 

“I wasn’t responsible for it. 

“I didn’t approve money for it because that’s not the role of the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works. The accounting officer within the Office of Public Works is the chairman, and then, as we’ve seen in the Public Accounts Committee hearings, depending on a person’s position in that organisation, they have different level of sign off with regards to their financial responsibilities, something I think the chairman is now, with the management board of the Office of Public Works, reviewing.” 

He added however that he agrees with Donohoe’s comments about the cost being embarrassing. 

When asked if he believes there are sufficient checks and balances within the OPW when it comes to public spending, O’Donovan said the checks and balances within any government department come through the accounting officer and then are scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee. 

“I would point out that it’s easy in some respects, to look at one or two projects but in the round, government departments have delivered,” he said. 

When asked about the public anger that currently exists in regard to OPW spending specifically, O’Donovan said it is “important to point out that tens of thousands of people all over this country are being protected at the moment from floodwaters going into their houses every single day of the week, from sewage going into their houses every single day of the week, because of the work that the Office of Public Works have done.”

He added: “Over the last number of years, we have transformed a country that had a population of three and a half million people to a country with a population of six million people.”

When the minister was further questioned on the OPW spending and asked if he believes these examples indicate a systemic problem in the body, the minister told the reporter: 

“No, because if you get a chance when the weather turns bad, I would suggest that you go to Clonmel, Bandon, Clonakilty, Skibbereen, my own hometown of Newcastle West, and ask the people there about what the work is that the Office of Public Works do.”