OPW flooded with furious emails about €336,000 cost of Leinster House bicycle shed
The number of complaints was so high that almost a month after being asked for a total number received, the OPW has still not been able to provide details of how many there were.
In one, the office of Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe wrote seeking an explanation of what had happened on behalf of a constituent who asked for “heads [to] roll”.
Another sent to the Department of the Taoiseach said: “Let no one dare to justify the expense re: the above but someone must accept the responsibility for it.”
One email called for the resignation of Fine Gael minister Kieran O’Donnell, who had oversight of the Office of Public Works.
It said: “No inquiry will exonerate your lack of oversight, nor change the waste of this and all the other OPW overspends and lax governance by department officials.”
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan also received a large number of complaints, which were forwarded to the OPW because Mr Ryan was not involved in the project.
One email said: “You complain now when it’s built that the cost is too high, which is too late. However, it is obvious that the OPW are reckless and have no regard for public expenditure.”
A log of queries between September 4 and September 6 shows multiple complaints from members of the public about the project.
In an email sent to the OPW chairman John Conlon, one staff member asked how they should respond to the “large number of representations” that were rolling in.
“We are storing them in a separate folder now,” said an email.
The staff member said the normal response was to acknowledge the message and say they would respond more fully “in due course” but that they could instead issue a statement that had been prepared for media.
“Is it in order to use this as the acknowledgement/reply in this instance? I will await your observation before proceeding,” they asked the chairman.
Mr Conlon responded saying: “Let’s wait a day or two.”
Records also show pressure mounting in the OPW as OPW minister Kieran O’Donnell and government came looking for an explanation of the expenditure.
Mr Conlon wrote to a colleague: “You might note Eamon Ryan’s comments on the [RTÉ] that the cost seems excessive and that the OPW has questions to answer re: costs.”
Complaints continued to roll in as time went on with one saying: “Are ye sure ye don’t want some more than €335,000. Sure, why not round it up to an even four hundy. Who cares?”
Another said: “I cannot believe that in this day and age that any person or persons could think this was ok and sign off on the money being released to build this small structure,” said one email.
A spokeswoman for the OPW said: “In responding to the issues raised regarding the bicycle shelter project, Minister Kieran O’Donnell requested a review of the project to be completed by chairman John Conlon.
“In any given week, the OPW receives a range of comments, both positive and negative, from the public. These are dealt with through established processes that exist within the OPW.”
