OPW neglected value analysis of €335k bike shed before go-ahead
No 'value-for-money assessment' was carried out before forging ahead with the controversial bike shelter at Leinster House, a review of the project has found. Deloitte was commissioned by the Office for Public Works (OPW) to review the project after it came to light late last year.
It found that there was an 'absence of some fundamental good practices' in the OPW, which led to the spending of €335,000 on the bike shelter. The report also found that a proposal by the OPW to locate the bike shelter in front of the 1966 block beside the Members' Dining Hall was discounted after a security review by the Oireachtas and gardaí.
This was despite a bike shelter being used underneath the Agricultural building, which is less than 200 metres from the site of the new bike shelter. The report found: 'On June 21, 2021, a proposal to install a covered bicycle parking shelter with capacity for 36 bikes beside the railings at the western end of the National Gallery was proposed to, and approved by, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (HoC) without costs being provided. Bike shelter at Leinster House. Pic: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie
Throughout this time (December 2019 to June 2021) when options were being proposed to the HoC, the option of doing nothing, as required by the Public Spending Code, was not formally presented to the HoC by the OPW.'
The Deloitte report said: 'A value-for-money assessment was not conducted for the bike shelter project and currently is not standard practice for elective capital expenditure less than €500k.' The report also found that the OPW did not communicate the estimates of the cost to the HoC. 'The estimated cost for the project, prepared in April 2023, was €350,000.
The OPW did not communicate this estimate of costs to the HoC.' While many of the established and good practices were followed, the report added: 'However, our internal audit review has identified the absence of some fundamental good practices in how certain elective capital works (including the bike shelter) below the €500k threshold are being initiated, approved, managed and delivered. Frontage of Leinster House. Pic: Shutterstock
The most fundamental of these control gaps is the absence of a value-for-money assessment which would have allowed informed OPW personnel to evaluate the cost-benefit of building a covered bicycle shelter in the requested location within the Leinster House campus.
'While we understand from our discussions with the OPW that they were primarily focused on delivering to the HoC, the reasons for the costs associated with the bike shelter project should have been documented in a value-formoney assessment which should have been performed within the OPW as part of a robust options appraisal process.
'We understand that some of the reasons for the cost levels included alignment of the bike shelter with the fabric of existing structures and maintaining the important city centre space to a high standard. Bicycle area. Pic: Shutterstock
'Regardless of the reasons, a value-for-money assessment should have been performed and the outcome of this value-formoney assessment (in effect a formal and documented sense check on cost vs benefit) together with lower-cost alternatives, and the option of doing nothing, should then have been presented back to the HoC as part of a robust options appraisal.'
The report added: 'There is currently no governance structure within the OPW for ensuring Value For Money (VFM) assessments are performed for capital projects with a projected budget below €500k.'
Public Accounts Committee member and Social Democrat TD Aidan Farrelly said: It is shocking, but not surprising, that the audit published today by Deloitte confirms there was no value-formoney evaluation carried out on this project, which cost taxpayers a whopping €335,000.'
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