Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Engagement with Office of Public Works

1:30 pm

Mr. John Conlon:

I accept that it is a very high cost for delivery of a covered bicycle shelter where it is. I have set out in my review what drove the costs of the project. It was conservation-led. It was procured in a certain way. It had materials that were in keeping with the environment around it. In that context, the costs were driven by the design and driven by the aspects of where it was located. From that perspective, I accept it is a very expensive shelter, but it was procured in a way that was competitive. It was procured in a way that was cost competitive, but the design and conservation drove the cost to the level it is at. As I acknowledged in my report, it is an expensive cost for a bike shelter in that context. I accept that.