Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 4 Sep 2024
MINISTER FOR FINANCE Jack Chambers has said that whoever signed off on the new €336,000 bike shed at Leinster House must be held accountable.
The new bike shed for Leinster House, which allows for storage of 36 bikes, cost €336,051.30 in total.
The cost of construction and installation was €322,282.78.
Speaking today, Chambers said the shelter is ”a complete waste of public money”.
“I think people are rightly annoyed at this, and there needs to be full accountability for whoever signed off on it and they should explain why it cost what it has cost,” he said.
“I think there is a need within the wider system for those who are responsible for capital projects to be cognisant of value engineering, value for money, and ensuring that whenever projects are advanced, and that they’re at the lowest cost in terms of the taxpayer.”
It comes after a Galway engineering firm said it could build the bike shed for less than a tenth of the fee paid by the Office of Public Works.
However, street furniture company Larkin Engineering said that while its “competitors” charge over €322,000, it could build and install a similar one for €19,995.
Get Your Own #LeinsterHouse #BikeShelter! 🚴♀️
— Larkin Engineering (@Larkinengineer) September 3, 2024
Don’t miss this deal!
💸 Competitor's Price: €322,282
🔥 #LarkinEngineering: €19,995 (Supplied & Installed)
Or, go for our Cycle Shelter Type 1 (fits 18 bikes) for just €7,000
Give your bikes a best home without breaking the bank! pic.twitter.com/1xXahEc6Ww
The company added that an even cheaper alternative can be provided for €7,000.
Stephen Larkin, the general manager of Larkin Engineering, told The Journal that he doesn’t think “there’s anyone that’s going to be able to stand over the costing” of the Leinster House bike shed.
“Something has gone very wrong in the pricing,” said Larkin.
He added: “Going into a building like Leinster House, you’re always going to put a bit of a premium on it, because it’s a protected building.
“You’ll add on maybe 15% due to unforeseen things that might come up, but from chatting to people, the estimation that most people are coming up with for all the work is around €60,000.”
While Larkin said these estimations do not include the granite flooring of the bike shed, he added: “If you go over the top and add on another €50,000 for granite, you’re still only in the region of €110,000.”
Asked about the social media post, Larkin said: “We were just making a joke of the whole situation.
“The situation is a joke already, but we were just jumping on it and making a joke of it as well.”
The shelter, which was hailed by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan as a good example of public sector climate action, also required archaeological advice to make sure it fit in at the parliamentary complex.
These costs came in at €2,952.
Ryan has since said the fee spent on the bike said was an “incredibly expensive cost”.
While he said the bike shed is on a “sensitive site”, he added that he was “shocked when I saw the price”.
In July, it emerged that Labour leader Ivana Bacik had pushed for new bike shelters at Leinster House.
However, the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl replied to say it was “extremely unlikely” that planning permission would be provided and that the existing facilities were underused.
Asked about the costs involved, a spokeswoman for the OPW said: “The bicycle shelter is a new structure located within the setting of Leinster House, a protected structure of national importance.
“In response to the character of the historic setting a well-designed structure with an appropriate use of high-quality materials and finish were required.”
Meanwhile, there have been examples in recent years of Government funded projects which include bike sheds coming in at a fraction of the price paid for the Leinster House one.
In 2022, €50,000 worth of funding provided to a Co Kerry GAA club by the Department of Rural and Community Development was used to develop a walkway, car parking, a picnic area and a bike shed.
Under the same funding tranche, €50,000 was given to a Co Cork sporting club to develop a fountain for a lake, to upgrade a walking surface, develop a car parking area, install seating, and develop a bike shed.
With additional reporting from Ken Foxe and Jane Moore
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Unbelievable waste of our money
Surprised there’s no solar on the covering to charge bikes etc.
@john o neill: it’s a constant in this country. We need someone that will come in and seriously crack down on this kind of behaviour. There should be zero incentive for government/Council officials to do shady backhanded deals like this. We all know that’s all this was. A nice payday for someone and their mates
@Thesaltyurchin: That’s a bloody good idea. Add in a vertical wind turbine they can be 2/3 ft high and bingo.
@Thesaltyurchin: yep, and it would have cost about 2million if they went for that option.
@john o neill: It’s not even a shed.
@john o neill: the reason Eamon Ryan is so outraged is that he knows that extravagant spending on a bicycle shed will be blamed on the Green Party as wasting hard earned taxes. I wonder if whoever signed off on it intended the political blame to fall on the greens. At its most charitable it reveals gross incompetence in some group within the OPW and Dept of Public Enterprise and Reform.
@Patrick MC Dermott: your right there. Bike shed needed to keep bikes dry. No side walls on it, so I’d guess no one took into consideration that the rain falls as the wind blows. I guess the hot air rising from the dail probably causes a micro climate keeping the clouds and wind at bay.
The bike shed is only the tip of the iceberg. Gives you a sense how they misdirect a lot of more money everywhere.
@john o neill: surprised ?
@john o neill: unbelievable, yet…………entirely believable. That’s what happens when you put the GP into positions of power & influence.
@Thesaltyurchin: thats being kept for next contract of 500k probably
Someone signed off on this. They need to be held accountable. This is the first time I’ve seen a picture of it. Outrageous cost but will we ever find out who is to blame?
@ecrowley ecrowley: they’ll do a D Forbes on it and ride off into the sunset
@ecrowley ecrowley: There must be more to this but would take the wow out of the “click story’
@P. V. Aglue: Bring back the Troika and let’s see what Ajai Chopra would have to say about this.
We clearly aren’t fit to govern ourselves.
@ecrowley ecrowley: Corruption and cronyism at it’s finest! Perhaps a formal complaint to an Garda siochana might ruffle a few feathers!!
@ecrowley ecrowley: and then telling how shameful rte is governed!! talk about hypocrisy!!!
@ecrowley ecrowley: It’s the civil service, they are never held accountable for anything, if the name of the person who signed off on it is ever leaked they’ll either get a golden handshake and big pension or be watted to another department on a higher salary. As bad as corrupt politicians are, we can only blame fellow voters for not ensuring they pay a price (looking at you Tipperary). The civil service and unions have a lot to answer for when it comes to the huge waste of taxpayers money in Ireland.
@Tom McDonnell: A complaint to the police will not ruffle ANY feathers. Just think of what they COULDN’T do last week when they witnessed thugs driving around on a stolen motorbike which was burned out when it ran out of petrol. You or I break a speed limit, haven’t hurt anyone physically or financially and we pay on the double with fines and increased insurance premia. Try and explain that to a teenager heading into the real world.
@ecrowley ecrowley: Exactly. No need for reviews or enquiries. The paper trail must be there….. follow the tender process….who quoted for the job and who got the job. Materials must be itemised and costed and labour per hour should be included. After that it’s only about who gave the go ahead. Its fairly simple stuff really.
@ecrowley ecrowley: OPW is accountable to the comptroller and auditor general
@ecrowley ecrowley: how we hold to account is a bit like dee forbes a lump sum and pension,never changes.
Zero accountability.Whoever signed off on this should be sent packing.If it happened in the private sector it would be P45 time.
@Sean Buckley: The crazy figure is due to public/private partnerships. This did happen in the private sector. Just like the Children’s Hospital and BAM. Or the concept of the private developer entering the Housing market a few decades ago coinciding with the start of the Housing crisis. It’s the selling off of industries like energy, waste, water etc. to the private sector where there’s no competition that has resulted to nobody being able to afford anything.
@Uí Braonáin: Not sure that’s a logical conclusion – a private company would never spend this much on a shed.
Do we know the name of the contractor who built the shed?
@matthew dempsey: yeh…its Ryan&co contractors LTD
@matthew dempsey: a friend of Paddy the plasterer.
@matthew dempsey: No, Irish society does want full specifics, keeps us guessing and assuming, which we love doing.
@matthew dempsey: Does anyone? There are plenty of cowboys about ready to grab easy money. As my dad used to say, “Fools and our money are easily parted.” My questions are 1. who signed off on it ?
2. Was there a tender process ?
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: there are 3 prices to any job, the real price, the irish price and the irish governments price. The wining tender was 2euro to cover the cost of the stamp, everything else was an add on
@matthew dempsey: BAM go figure that over spend on nch and then get this contract
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: I’m not sure but I don’t think there was a tender for this specific build, I think the OPW have a contractor on hand for ‘smaller’ (!!!) jobs like this
@BigEd:
Laughing all the way to the bank.
@matthew dempsey: of this work was charged from agreed framework rates then someone needs to identify what other work they have been awarded under this framework and the charges for same.
Next someone needs to look at the office for government procurement to see how such rates qualified this supplier to be on the framework and also what sanity checks were or weren’t in place for the award of this piece of work at such an exorbitant price. Someone signed off on it and needs to accept responsibility.
@Dermot Blaine: Probably OPW themselves. OPW OFFICE of PUBLIC WASTE!!!
@matthew dempsey: they are a company owned by Sisk
Well played Larkin Engineering, well played.
@Ciaran: Yes: a nice bit of opportunistic marketing.
@Brendan O’Brien: always defending the miscreants
@Ciaran: not to mention Larkin Engineering is owned by Noel Larkin, a Galway city councillor.
Very nice chap in fact.
@Oh Mammy: Not defending anyone.
@Brendan O’Brien: denounce the whole project then Brendan
What happened to due diligence and getting 3 quotes ? Basic basic stuff. This is corruption pure and simple
@Shimo F: purchased off a framework so probably went to tender so we need to see the tender documents and how it was evaluated the 338k wasbest offer and represented value for m0ney. They need to look at OGP for documents and answers
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: I’d say the tender was probably full of ridiculous requirements that meant only one company tendered for the work
@Mick Duvanny: Yeah alot of this going on
I presume when Eamon Ryan is awake and shopping he must not look at the price of anything when he’s spending his own money. Just expresses dismay at the price when he’s leaving the shop, baffled at how it costs that much and how he got his shoes on that morning.
@Bryan: 1. ,He is not the minister responsible for the OPW. 2. This type of project would be signed off by a civil servant, do you think every bus shelter built is signed off by a minister ?
@mark sheehan: They really hardly ever build them. It’s why no one ride the bus, be soaked.
@mark sheehan: It’s a bike shelter. And the man who cycles bikes and is the leader of the green party who are in government, was surely pushing for a bike shelter for government buildings. His colleague was asked about it on virgin media last night and she said more bike shelters should be installed by places of work around the country before addressing the extortionate cost of it. It’s the green party who were pushing for it.
@Bryan: Read the comment you’re replying to again. Ffs.
@honey badger: yes dear.
@Bryan: You still don’t see or better, don’t want to see the difference?
“The green party” might well be pushing for more bike shelters, which is fair enough – I believe.
“The green party” is not the one putting out the tender, select it and approve the – in this case – enormous price tag.
It’s not really that hard to understand?
@Wolfgang Bonow: I have a badger and a wolf attacking me over my comments about the green party….Im not directing the blame at him personally. I’m directing the blame at the government he has been a part of over the last 4.5 years who have treated the taxpayers money with neglect which has created a culture inside government buildings. Whether it’s children hospitals, useless bike lanes, bailing out RTÉ etc + when he’s asked about a bike shelter costing over €300k he grins back at the camera saying “It is rather expensive isn’t it”. Obviously it’s not just him but he was at the top table running the show. Matt Cooper asked him why this kind of expenditure has been allowed to continue over the years, following yer logic he shouldn’t have dared ask him as it has nothing to do with him?
@Bryan: I understand, i believe. But, do you really think the smallest party in government has that much power to influence all kind of decisions?
Or is it just used as scapegoat?
I believe it’s mostly the later and the greens are simply not good enough to make it clear.
Or they keep quiet to keep the peace in the coalition and then they deserve everything they will get in the next GE.
@Wolfgang Bonow: Actually, many, along with myself, do believe that the Green Party are the ones calling the shots in government at the moment. They have a hold on the larger 2 parties, using the threat of collapsing the government and forcing a GE. One where SF will most likely get a majority, and that has FF and FG running scared. Why else would they have gone into coalition with each other, and why else do the Green party get everything they want, from the DRS to the thr Galway city bypass being turned down. Now, how do you think they are being scapegoated ….they are getting what they want, aren’t they?
When it comes to gross incompetence and the inexcusable waste of tax payers money the bike shed is just another added to a long list – E voting machines that end up being sold as scrap
Thornton Hall site bought to build a prison that was never built.
A large printer that couldn’t fit into the building. Ventilators during Covid-19 that couldn’t be used. The list is an endless story of incompetence.
Nobody ever held responsible.
Did nobody question this before it went ahead. That was the time to ask. A bit late now !!
That would be €400,000 plus after the brown envelopes.
Corruption at its finest , as a contract engineer, I wouldnt be working onsite for long if I presented a bike shed for over 300k to my client , how anyone could justify this spend is beyond me … they will never change 100 years of Corruption built into that masterpiece
Terrible waste of taxpayers’ money. OPW should be held accountable. What else have they spent money on, I doubt, we got value for money.
They’re pedalling too many excuses. Costs were pumped up,then blamed on inflation.
@Larry Betts: I’m tyred off all these lads forking us bout. They need to be chained up and to stop acting the bell end with our dosh
@paul ruddell: Those puns are wheely bad.
@paul ruddell: Are you the spokesman?
@Eamon: You’re pushing it a bit there.
@Tom O’ Donnell: No, he’s not. He’s further down the chain of command. But he does work in tandem with the spokesperson.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: He was saddled with the job,and told to choose the correct gear necessary to complete it.
@Larry Betts: these replies have me feeling deflated. Everyone needs to get a grip. But I’ll just carry on acting a basket case. You will have to lock me up to get me to yield
@paul ruddell: I will try and carrier through this. Even though it could be a bumpy road ahead,a stiff upper lip and a well groomed handlebar moustache could just be the job
322k ! So about what it costs the State for one pensioner for twenty three years. Now that’s real context.
Why has no good journalist asked for an interview with Kieran O’Donnell he is the Minister responsible for the opw. (Or do we have any good journalists)
I wonder will someone lose their job for signing off on this ? I’m not going to hold my breath…
Have no lessons been learned after the children’s hospital fiasco, or was it a case of one hundred and fifty grand for you and a hundred and fifty grand for me and get someone to do the job for thirty six grand,.how many quotes did they get, obviously Larkins or anyone else didn’t get a chance to quote for the job,
who got the job and who are they related to?
Heads should roll for wasting so much money, it is disgraceful. The civil servant and minister responsible should be sacked.
Nobody will be sacked, those responsible will go out sick, refuse to attend the PAC or answer any questions. They will then text the OPW rep at the PAC telling them what to say. The OPW will then give them a massive Exit Package with a Non Disclosure Agreement & Pension, telling the public their hands are tied & the WRC ruled that those responsible must be rewarded. The Govt will then install an ex OPW insider to run the Organization who won’t be able to answer what his salary is & receive a Billion Dollar Bailout to continue the Largesse, this is how the country operates now & just continue struggling at work & hand over your Tax to them, so that they can continue to screw you.
How was there no project price set out at start for approval?
Fat chance that an investigation team will arrive at the door of whoever is responsible for this debacle. In contrast to the unfortunate Garda Sergeant who was suspended for 3 years for lending a bike to an elderly man in his community during Covid. Golden Circles come to mind .
This outrage is a joke, this kind of waste and alternative brown envelope is rife in every part of the public sector, go look at what the HSE pays for meals to be provided for staff from Delicatessens round the country , or what The Lourdes Hosp in drogheda paid for a bird specialist to deal with birds of prey on the Hospital roof only to discover they were plastic birds of prey put there the year before to frighten sea gulls away, dail printers, buses that can’t be charged, it’s rife everywhere. As for anything procured from the construction sector, vaseline time, I know I worked in it. It’s a joke, it’s a big part of the greed and rampant inflation in this country. For all those who say it’s not the govts fault, well your very naive, behaviour always emanates from the top down, always, and with so many politicians with little or no real life experience it’s going to continue, keep voting for celebs, teachers, estate agents and don’t try something different, the bogeyman will get you if you do l.
CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.
Simon Harris,should name and shame whoever was responsible..
@larry whelan: He should sack them.
That’s what happen when ffg know that a large section of the irish voting population are terrified of change ,And just keep voting the same entitled wasters ove and over again
They were told the money was going to pay for a new tube station. That’s what they got. A bicycle tube station.
What sickens me about this is that it is just a big joke to many people. Instead of being up in arms there is just an acceptence that this is the way things are done here. Little wonder these piigs in government are still in power. People who support them are just as culpible as the TDs themselves.
Simple question. Who signed off on this and what else have they signed off on in the past. As a taxpayer I want the name of that individual and what sanctions they will face. More that likely early retirement with a lump sum and pension. No accountability with taxpayers money
I’ve a ford fiesta for sale for 185 grand if the OPW need one.
As I said yesterday it’s a job for the boys, if it’s taxpayers money then no problem, spend whatever,
Will anyone get sacked over this scandal?
The plot thick ends with the quote from Larkin Engineering was the construction of the bike shed not put out to tender? more questions to b answered
If you were a Government Minister or the Taoiseach and you didn’t already know exactly who signed off on the Leinster House bike shed, you could find that out in ten minutes or less with one phone call.
@Dvsespaña: 100 per cent.. more codology and can kicking. It’s quite simple .. whoever signed off on this needs to be sacked. They’re either grossly incompetent or hold tax payers in disdain. Either way they should not be left next nor near the taxpayers money.
OPW!!! The gift that keeps giving.
They don’t care how people feel, they certainly don’t care about how much money they spend… Why.. Because we keep allowing them to get away with it, I just wonder what it will take for us all to say no that’s it enough is enough and take it to the dail and protest, because they are laughing at you, me and everyone else, they look at us as pathetic fools.
Three contractors a Mayo, Kildare & Kerry tendered for the bike shelter at Leinster house.
They were interviewed by an OPW officer.
The Mayo man quoted €100,000 the OPW officer asked for a breakdown in the figures the Mayo man said “€33,000 for parts €33,000 for labour & €34,000 profit”.
The Kildare man quoted €150,000 and his breakdown was €50,000 for parts €50,000 for labour & €50,000 profit.
The Kerry man quoted €300,000, the officer was shocked at the price & asked for his breakdown the Kerry man said “well it’s €100,000 for me, €100,000 for you & we give the job to the Mayo man
We should have an inquiry into this but that might cost a million euro more..
I think the luas is going to go to Leinster house shortly,so they built the shelter first
Scale it up and you have the children’s hospital fiasco. And Simon Harris was the health minister when that all broke. I’m reminded of the dáil printer as well that couldn’t fit into the room it was supposed to go into so they had to start knocking down walls. That all came to over €1m. That was only a few years ago. Jack Chambers wants someone to explain why it costs what it did. They can’t. Because it’s an obvious astronomical rip off and to actually explain it they will have to incriminate themselves. Like everything the government spends money on. There is no point in taking in all of this extra tax as we get zero value for money. I mean 335k for that. It shows there is no accountability or even vague attempt to get any value for tax payers money. We’ll blow the money that the country is taking in and will be back to square one.
It’s wrong … But only a drop in the ocean compared to children’s hospital. And who was held accountable for that?
Whoever put bicycle hut up is laughing all the way to the bank
Arrah shure I could make it meself for around 200 quid. Few shates of galvanized and couple of lengths of 2×4. I’d even throw ya back a tenner for the luck.
The bike shed in Leinster House is super duper deluxe version, hence the hefty price tag. I really thought everyone knew this
@Nigel Hayden: it’s not a shed. Have you ever seen a shed? It’s a shelter. You don’t talk about bus sheds!
They speak as if THEY are not responsible and are now looking for THOSE responsible when THEY THEMSELVES ARE RESPONSIBLE!!!
An absolute disgrace turning into an absolute farce. Resignations or dismissals have to follow.
Minister call for “full accountability” knowing full well it will be a senior civil servant who make all the decisions and are untouchable.
I don’t see a problem with it.
@Brian O’Brendan: a bit of common sense talking more like.
@Jb Walshe: my comment above was meant for Brendan o Brian’s comment regarding opportunistic marketing.
@Jb Walshe: What about the Climate though?
@Brian O’Brendan: defending the indefensible
I hear the rustle of a carpet being lifted and a brush sweeping rapidly towards it.
I may be wrong but my understanding is anything over €5000 must go out for tender with at least 3 separate quotes to be considered.
Ryan tubridy owes 350 thousand and there’s nobody in government saying a word not a vote catcher the shed is a shed and no tax payer will ever see or use it get rid of free parking in dail grounds
Everyone look over here – forget the hospital – forget housing crisis – forget emmm ohh I’ve even forgotten what I need you to forget —- grrrrrr it’s all because of the bike shed, let’s be angry together on that issue and get to the bottom of it and take all our pain out on that civil servant!!!
All that glitters is not gold.
@Frank Heffernan: ‘Glisters’ actually!
Scams in Ireland go beyond bicycle sheds. Illegal immigrants have realized this and have swarmed on this country like flies on a rib roast.
Can we get full accountability for the (another) new record level of homelessness?
A drop in the ocean, people need to calm down
@Fintan Pox: I prefer Blur.
@Ben F: I used to like The Cure. But then another band appeared on the scene that were amazing,called The Prevention. Everyone said at the time that The Prevention were better than The Cure.
@Larry Betts: Also The Cure were worse than The Disease.
Just wait for the excuses to come that will give the money spent a nice brush over or under the carpet.a bloody disgrace people should call for an end to this government.childrens hospital now this what money has been outrageously that we don’t know about
@giles wolohan: spent
People blame politicians for most things and rightly so! But politicians get voted in and out of office every so many years, the one constant is the civil service. They are the mechanism by which all this bòllǒx happens. This whole system needs to be reformed before any real change can happen in this country.
Thousands of clock watchers with no motivation to do a good job, churning around in a broken bureaucratic hell hole of a system with no desire for change.
Corruption is the fashionable word
It’s about time that somebody looked at all the projects the OPW are involved with. Just imagine Sinn Féin’s idea of a national building company to provide housing, that would be some fiasco. Bring in a couple of Chinese companies and they would get all of these major projects done at a fraction of the cost.
@Fintan Pox. Welcome back! Do you not agree that sheds should be banned?
@Padraig O’Brien: worth considering, people should not have sheds if they are left idle
He knows who, this is just nonsense, what they’re doing is creating a scenario to get said person protected. Then things can stay the same
It’s a wasn’t me enquiry!
Who’s been held accountable for the billions lost on the childrens hospital?
@matthew donoghue:
No one, all the dishonest Irish sub contractors who got stuck in will walk away.
This is the new housing plan bike shed
Here we go another waste if it was a comedy you’d say the script is not believable but it’s actually happening
If the 325k is only for the structure sitting above ground, it expensive. The glass method used isn’t cheap, and one option is tinted glass called Evergreen. Anyway it looks to be a top class finish by the various trades. We don’t know what went on underground, yet, nor the logistics involved for lorries entering the site. Health & safety given its slap bang in the middle of government would have been onerous or most likely OTT. Not to mention the TMP. The professionals involved are likely pros at their job, and if their boss looked for an cost update, an update spreadsheet could be mustered lightening fast, as could the spec., BoQ etc.
And don’t forget the time cost spec triangle…
@notgivingmyname: Found the contractor
Who ever signed off on this one needs to do a RTE special and stick a pair of underpants on their head two pencils up their nose keep saying “wobble” and get a doctors note.
35
@Darragh Mcnamara: very cheap
‘Full accountability’. That’s funny!
May I suggest to investigate the degree of relationships between the shed builder and the one responsible for the go ahead ?
When election comes around. We all know who not to vote for.
“there is a need within the wider system for those who are responsible for capital projects to be cognisant of value engineering, value for money, and ensuring that whenever projects are advanced, and that they’re at the lowest cost in terms of the taxpayer.”
The greatest work of fiction since the French marriage vows.
Someone is getting thrown under the bus!!! Where’s the governance?…oh..is that not the ministers job ????
@maha freeman: it’s not, no Minister micro manages the OPW. But they are accountable and I’m sure the comptroller and auditor general will be looking at their spending.
How can they think that we think they’re serious when they ‘care’ and want someone to be held accountable. It’s a load of BS that they want to be seen to be outraged. It’s a joke, they’re all having a joke and as always it’s on us because we bloody pay for it every damn time. They play us for fools and no one, NO ONE will be held accountable…ever…really. Stop insulting us with these afterthoughts. The thing is built, it was probably approved a year or two ago, that’s when it should have been raised and stopped and something been done. Stop pretending to give a damn.
While you’re at it, hold the people responsible for the children’s hospital to account. The electorate deserve to know who is squandering the tax payers money and getting away with it!
“Tut Tut, don’t get caught again”.
Name, shame and fire!
This is only what we know about I’ll bet this waste of money is commonplace…….?
@dave moran:
There is also the matter of sub contractors when invited to tender for state work getting together before hand and agreeing between themselves not the go below a certain price.
Accountability, does this mean demotion or some other sanction, or will we ever know the outcome of this costly scenario as the individual involved will be protected by the GDPR regulation.
We need root and branch reform, that will fix it.
The Mafia would not have that bare faced cheek.
Accountability in this country. There is never any of that. We don’t believe in it. Why should anybody take the blame. It’s only tax payers money.
@John Flanagan:
They go running to the courts if held accountable.
Why isn’t the contractor who done the work not asked to account for their exorbitant pricing for a fairly ordinary looking lean to??? They are equally culpable in this and should be publicly named.
So jobs for boys .. keep paying your taxes
The bikes will get wet
Think how many bets doleheads could have had down the bookies for the price of that bike shelter!
Pure rothar nonsense.
The people need to take a stand against this government. We have the power in numbers, we’re the ones running the country. Hospitality staff should refuse them service, drivers should refuse them travel, binmen should stop collecting their waste, cut them out of society one way or another until there is real change.
As with the nch the job would have been tendered and the cheapest INITIAL submission would have been excepted. Once the work begins then the builder starts loading on extras. The civil servant has ticked all the boxes knowing full well they are about to get rode and the tax payer get it crouching tiger style. Basically just a massive piss take from start to finish.
Who got the contract?
Someone had to agree the price and sign off on the job.
We may never know, who or why. That’s the way the system works, when it’s the tax payer paying.
Publish the Pulse number
Somebody has been very careful to put a lot of bicycles in the bike rack for the photo op while this scandal remains news.
have your say