A “beautiful” security hut at Government Buildings cost more than €1.4 million, TDs and Senators have been told.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called the cost of the hut “ridiculous” and said he was shocked to hear the figure.
However, chairman of the Office of Public Works (OPW), John Conlon, said he does not believe the cost of the hut is excessive, given the “hidden” work carried out related to security and communications needs.
The details of the cost of the security structure emerged as OPW representatives appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure to be quizzed on the controversial €336,000 Leinster House bike shelter.
Green Party TD Steven Matthews asked Mr Conlon about the cost of the “very attractive security hut with a sweeping copper clad roof”, and was told it came to €1.429 million.
Mr Conlon said he wanted to emphasise it followed “an extensive review of security in this campus” with the Garda.
He said: “Whilst it looks like it is a fairly significant cost, there are very significant mechanical, electricals, security system costs on that.” He said there was also a “significant cost” to provide a temporary structure while the building was taking place.
He also stressed it was a “completely different” project to the bike shelter.
Mr Matthews said: “It’s a beautiful structure”, but asked if the price was excessive.
Mr Conlon replied: “I don’t believe it is given the significant security dimensions.” He said the hut ties into a control system across the campus and “there would have been a lot of routing and that type of work which is quite hidden”.
He added: “You don’t see it by looking at the pavilion itself – the significant underground works that took place on that.”
Mr Conlon said there was “a huge amount of networking”, including power, communications, security and CCTV systems.
“So it’s not just what you see when you look down the south gate. There’s far more to that project than meets the eye.”
Mr Matthews asked the OPW representatives to provide the committee with a breakdown of the costs.
Speaking in New York, where he is attending the United Nations general assembly, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said of the security hut cost: “I was shocked to hear that figure this morning. It is ridiculous. There is no need for that level of expenditure.
“I think we need a fundamental review of what’s happening there and that there is full transparency in front of the Oireachtas in terms of the breakdown of costs. That does seem shocking in terms of what is there, that it would cost that much money.”
Meanwhile, the body responsible for running the Leinster House campus rejected as unacceptable a “cost-effective” option for a bike shelter, according to new documents released by the OPW.
Controversy has raged for weeks after it emerged the OPW built a bike shed on the Merrion Square side of Leinster House which cost €336,000, with the Oireachtas Commission, which runs Leinster House, especially critical of the spending.
However, a report on the bike shed construction drawn up by the OPW and published on Wednesday morning shows that during consultations on the project in April 2021, it communicated that its “preferred option” was for a facility deeper inside the complex of buildings, close to the members’ restaurant.
“These options included OPW’s preferred option to locate facilities in the West Road, in front of the 1966 Block outside the members’ restaurant. The positives were that it was ‘out of sight’, adjacent to an entrance, would not impact on listed buildings and would likely be a cost-effective option to deliver,” the report states.
It continues: “The OPW understood that this option would require operational changes relating to security and circulation which were not insurmountable.”
However, it outlines that members of the Oireachtas Commission, a body largely composed of politicians and chaired by Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail, “indicated that provision of covered or uncovered bicycle parking in the West Road was not an acceptable proposition. This was supported by security advice.”
The report outlines that the Commission asked that covered bike parking with potential for provision of charging systems for e-bikes be provided on the Merrion Square side of Leinster House, as close to Leinster House as possible.
The report outlines that the OPW had earlier pointed to the aesthetic undesirability of installing covered facilities at either side of Leinster House which would be visible to the public. “They also advised that such facilities would be more costly to install than facilities which might be located ‘back of house’.” However, it notes that no estimate of cost was provided at this stage.
In June 2021, the OPW presented a plan for the bike shed to the Oireachtas Commission, which approved the plan, but no estimates or costings were presented at this juncture.
Management at the OPW will in future have to oversee and approve all works costing more than €200,000 in the wake of the controversy.
The previous threshold for such oversight was €500,000.
At Wednesday’s committee meeting, Mr Conlon said the bike shelter “has been the source of considerable concern for the political system and the general public”.
“I understand the anger and frustration of both elected representatives and the public.
“I want to make it clear that I am taking immediate steps to ensure that this does not happen again.”
He said: “While the costs for this project can be explained, the overall cost of delivering this bicycle shelter is 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 bicycle shelter, and one which the OPW must reflect on.”
He told the committee the project has been reviewed and “the design of the facility was conservation-led, with the main focus of being to provide a solution that met the client needs”.
However, he adds: “I am taking immediate measures to ensure that, in future, the value-for-money aspect of projects of this scale is more ‘front and centre’ in our processes.
He also said: “In future, the OPW will ensure that the Oireachtas Commission is fully informed of costs for all elective projects in Leinster House.”
