Irish Prime Minister slams €336,000 bike shed at Parliament with 18 cycle stands — where your bike may still get wet in the rain — as "inexcusable and inexplicable", as government orders review into "astronomical costs"

A bike shed which cost €336,000 (£283,149) to build at the Irish Parliament and has 18 individual Sheffield-style cycle stands, but still bearing the possibility of the bikes getting wet in the rain, has found itself in the middle of a major controversy as questions have been raised as to how were the "astronomical costs" justified, with the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Simon Harris describing it as "inexcusable and inexplicable".

The bike shed was built last year on the grounds of Leinster House, the seat of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament in Dublin, with a statement from the Office of Public Works (OPW) confirming the amount spent to build the shelter, the breakdown presented as €322,282 (£271,755) was spent on the main construction and installation, €2,952 (£2,489) on archaeological services, and a further €10,816 (£9,120) was paid for contract administration services in The Irish Times.

It's now reported that an "immediate review" into the costs associated with the construction of the bike shed has been requested by Kieran O’Donnell, Teachta Dála with responsibility for the OPW, which claimed that the project "was procured via a framework agreement and complies with public procurement and planning guidelines".

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

OVER - €336.000 cost of a #bikeshed at #LeinsterHouse #OPW THIS IS HOW YOUR TAX PAYING MONEY IS BEEN SPENT. THIS GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO GO pic.twitter.com/OwZtgt0wDn

— IRISH FINNEGAN 🇮🇪 (@IRISHFINNEGAN_) September 3, 2024

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, who has been an advocate of active travel in Ireland, said that the OPW had questions to answer and that he was "shocked" when he saw the price, adding that it was "very important and good that we have bicycle sheds", but said it "seem an incredibly expensive cost".

He said: "I think this [the bike shed] could be a useful lesson to say ... how can we deliver good architecture, good street furniture, good kind of support the people want, but not make it so expensive."

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."

> Irish family told to remove "visual clutter" bespoke bike shed may now just park a trailer on driveway for storing bikes instead, after planning board claims "disorderly" timber-clad structure "would set an undesirable precedent"

Meanwhile, 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.

Ms Hourigan acknowledged the OPW’s point that it was a "very sensitive site", but claimed that she wasn't sure if it was a "€300,000 sensitive site", adding that it was "effectively a very, very simple structure".

If anything sums up the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Green government best, it’s spending €335,000 on a bike shed for 18 bikes. 🤯

Ah but it’s a nice bike shed🤬 pic.twitter.com/J5fMfjOfMG

— John Brady TD (@johnbradysf) September 2, 2024

The Irish Times reports that the Oireachtas had no role in approving funding for a €350,000 bike shed in Leinster House. Ceann Comhairle (speaker of the Irish Parliement) Seán Ó Fearghaíl said that while the bike shelter was initially sought by the Houses of Oireachtas Commission on foot of requests made by members of the Oireachtas, it had no role in approving the spending on the project.

He said hat in the future the Commission, which provides for the running of the Oireachtas, will seek details of costings associated with improvements or works undertaken on the wider Leinster House complex, adding that he was “astonished” by the figure.

Meanwhile, at the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee described the cost as “astronomical” and a “phenomenal amount”. 

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asked the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to trawl for documents on the process leading up to the construction of the bike shed.

She said that she has written to Committee chair Brian Stanley asking that PAC write to the Office of Public Works and the leadership of the Houses of the Oireachtas, as well as its accounting officer, regarding the installation of the shed.

Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash told reporters on Tuesday that the spending on the bike shelter was “absolutely indefensible”. He said “much more responsibility” had to be shown by State agencies managing public projects.

> Cyclist threatened with €13 million fine and two years in prison over bike shed, forcing her to give up cycling

This isn't the first time a bike shed has grabbed headlines in Ireland. Earlier this year, a Cork family's plans of storing their bikes were thrown into jeopardy after they lost their appeal to have a bike shed in front of their house, with the council claiming that the bespoke storage unit "would conflict with the existing pattern of development in the area" and constitutes "visual clutter" that "would set an undesirable precedent".

In a series of planning documents and appeals on An Bord Pleanála's website, it is revealed that Denis O'Regan and his family were denied retention permission for a 5.3sq m timber-clad structure that would be used to store bicycles and bins on the driveway of their home in Ballintemple, Cork.

Mr O'Regan believed the decision was in contrary to rulings in similar cases and argued the "bespoke" structure was in line with planning requirements and would promote sustainable active travel by providing his family a secure and accessible place to store several bicycles, including an electric cargo bike.

"Storing bikes in an easy-to-reach secure location helps to encourage adults and children to cycle more often," he said, pointing out the design was made to fit in with the recent extension to the property and was actually installed to reduce what the council called "visual clutter", allowing them a storage unit to keep bins and bikes without impacting off-street parking.

The family later said that they were considering simply parking a trailer on the driveway to securely store bikes in and avoid the planning headache.