Politics

‘Your bike could still get wet’: Review into ‘inexcusable’ €336,000 bike shed at Leinster House requested

OPW says public money must be spent ‘transparently’ as O’Donnell confirms review into cost

The construction of a €336,000 bike shelter in Leinster House was revealed in The Irish Times over the weekend. Photograph Nick Bradshaw for The Irish Times
Jack White
Tue Sept 03 2024 - 11:08

An “immediate” review into the costs associated with the construction of a €336,000 bike shelter in Leinster House has been requested by Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kieran O’Donnell.

The cost of the bike shed was revealed in The Irish Times over the weekend. A breakdown of costs from the OPW showed €322,282 was spent on the main construction and installation project.

A further €2,952 was spent on archaeological services while €10,816 was paid for quantity surveying services and “contract administration services”. The shelter required archaeological advice to make sure it fitted in at the parliamentary complex.

At a pre-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday morning, Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the review, saying the costs are “inexcusable and inexplicable”.

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Mr Harris said while public can see the benefits of bike spaces at workplaces, they do not understand the “extraordinary” costs reported.

“This is the sort of thing that rightly angers and annoys people,” he said, adding that while workplaces should provide spaces for parking bikes, they should not be “lavish” or “extortionate”.

At the same briefing, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee described the cost as “astronomical” and a “phenomenal amount”.

[ Eamon Ryan ‘shocked’ at over €335,000 cost of bike shed at Leinster House ]

“I’ll be honest, it seems like an astronomical amount for what is essentially a bike shed,” she said.

Ms McEntee said an immediate review to see why or how the shelter which accommodates 18 bikes cost €336,000 has been requested by Mr O’Donnell.

“Until we see that it’s hard to understand exactly what has happened here,” she said.

A statement from the OPW said it recognised “the importance of ensuring that public money is spent transparently”.

The construction of the bike shelter involved “several unique challenges”, the OPW said, due to it being located within the setting of Leinster House, “a protected structure of national importance”.

“The structure consists of a steel framed, glazed canopy to ensure long term durability. The materials used, including Irish granite, glass and steel were carefully selected not only for their durability, but also for their compatibility with the historic setting of our national parliament,” the statement said.

Meanwhile Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan, who is an architect, said the cost of the bike shelter should have been half of the amount revealed on Monday.

“It is hard to see how it can be justifiable” she told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.

“It is the cost of constructing a house. It’s not even a shed, it’s an L-shaped canopy. So your bike’s possibly still going to get wet. I think that there are answers that we require. I’m not so keen on what the minister said this morning that the OPW itself will review that.

“I don’t necessarily see that we need the OPW to put it on the long finger and look at its own work and inquire into itself. We just need the documents to be released.”

Ms Hourigan said the first thing she would be looking for is the tender documents.

Ms Hourigan acknowledged the OPW’s point that it was a “very sensitive site”.

“But I’m not sure it’s a €300,000 sensitive site. And this is effectively a very, very simple structure.”

Jack White

Jack White

Jack White is a reporter for The Irish Times