The minister who had responsibility for the OPW while the Dáil bike shelter was being planned and built has said he only learned the sky-high price of the deal this week.
Speaking in Cork this morning, Fine Gael junior minister Patrick O’Donovan said the €336,000 cost of the shelter was “excessive, putting it mildly”.
He said bike stands can be easily bought “off the shelf” – and questioned the need to have bikes sheltered from the elements.
“I don't even think many of the bike stands that I see as I travel around the country are sheltered,” he said.
“Most of the shelter is provided by a person putting a plastic bag over the saddle – that’s what we used to always do going to school; I don't see why that wouldn't have done in this situation.”
Dáil bike shelter: Former OPW minister Patrick O’Donovan was 'not aware' of €336,000 spend pic.twitter.com/9ip5NjtVVG
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Minister O’Donovan had responsibility for the OPW between July 2020 and April 2024 – during which time the project was requested, planned and built.
He told Newstalk that he only became aware of the issue this week.
"The first I became aware of it was when I read it off the paper the other day,” he said.
“I had never heard of it when I was in the department or the OPW.”
Sign-off
He noted that as minister he had no role in signing off on the project.
“Ministers don't sign off on an expenditure within the OPW, any more than they do in other Government departments,” he said.
“It's a matter for the accounting officer and the relevant accounting officer at a particular level in the organisation will have looked at that.”
The Limerick junior minister noted that the accounting officer goes before the Public Accounts Committee periodically to be held accountable for expenditure.
He said he welcomes his successor Kieran O’Donnell’s decision to request a report into the deal.
“I agree with what the Taoiseach said yesterday,” he said. “You know, this sum of money for the sheltering of 18 or 20 bikes is excessive, putting it mildly.”
Damage
Minister O’Donovan said the saga has “done a lot of damage to the reputation of what is a very good organisation” in the OPW.
“I hope that the report will be completed as soon as possible and I hope that we are not in a position of having anything like this in the future,” he said.
“Those TDs and staff members that like to cycle to the Dáil, the same way as they might like to cycle to other parts of Dublin, you know, there's nothing wrong with putting a plastic bag over the saddle and tying it on to a stand that can be bought off the shelf.”
Timeline
The OPW was first asked to build the bike shelter by the Houses of the Oireachtas in May 2021.
The planning application was lodged in October 2022 and granted the following month.
The contractor was appointed to build the shelter in December 2023, with works commencing the following month.
The final works were completed by mid-April 2024.
In all the project cost €336,000 inclusive of VAT – the vast majority of which went towards construction and installation costs.
With reporting from Jamie O'Hara.
