'Extraordinary' cost of Leinster House bike shelter was not acceptable, OPW chair says

By Cate McCurry, PA

The cost of the €336,000 infamous Leinster House bike shed was “completely not acceptable”, the chairman of the Office of Public Works (OPW) has said.

John Conlon said the OPW will “seriously reflect” on the “extraordinary cost” of erecting the shelter.

Following its review, the OPW said it will now oversee and approve works costing more than €200,000.

The OPW is to appear before the Oireachtas Finance and Public Expenditure Committee on Wednesday to discuss the cost of the bike shed.

The glass-covered shelter, located on the grounds of Leinster House, has been the subject of criticism and ridicule for its high cost.

A breakdown from the OPW review shows €121,194.29 was spent on manufacturing, supply and installation; €52,886.84 was spent on groundworks including drainage and resurfacing; while the cost of granite landscaping amounted to €44,940.

A total of €30,468.69 was spent on dayworks, while almost €35,000 of costs related to preliminaries and agreed variations.

In the report, published on Wednesday, Mr Conlon said: “As accounting officer for the OPW I acknowledge that, while the costs for this project can be explained, the overall cost of delivering a covered bicycle shelter at Leinster House is completely 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.”

Mr Conlon said he has also sought an external audit of the project.

“I am also asking that the external auditor advise me on any further measures that the OPW should consider to strengthen the delivery of value for money on such projects,” he added.

“I will introduce an additional step in our governance process whereby all projects between €200,000 and €500,000 must have an initial cost and VfM (value for money) assessment and be presented to the relevant management board member for approval to proceed.

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

“The value of this elective project should also have been communicated to the members of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (HOC) so that the costs could be considered and fully understood.

“Governance and reporting on works that are requested by the HOC, that is elective works, need to be strengthened and needs to have regard to value for money on a project-by-project basis.

“Therefore, the costs of elective works projects requested by the HOC will be provided to the monthly HOC meetings commencing from Monday September 23.”

Mr Conlon said the OPW assessed the requirements, the conservation challenges and the complexity of the bike shed design, and a “simple assessment” was undertaken as required by the Public Spending Code.

However, he added the assessment should have placed a “greater emphasis” on the value for money aspect of the project.

“A total project cost (which includes archaeology, contract fees, construction costs and contingency) was estimated at €350,000 (ex-VAT) following a review of the design,” he added.

“This maximum total project cost was set by the relevant officer within the defined OPW financial thresholds.

“I am concerned that this level of expenditure is not consistent with the scale of the project under consideration – a covered bicycle facility.”