Leinster House’s €336,000 bike shelter used by average of just 4.5 cyclists a day
The number of bikes parked at a new purposely built shelter at Leinster House, which cost €336,000, has never exceeded 10 a day over the last three months.
The use of the new bike shed, which can fit 18 in total, was monitored from last May. The results showed the 18 covered spaces “have been used by an average of 4.5 bikes per day”.
Yet there were averages of 46 bikes left outside Leinster House – the majority at the front – rising to a peak of 85 bikes on one day.
“While these numbers are positive, they do not justify the provision of additional covered parking,” it was claimed, despite most cyclists entering at Kildare Street, rather than the other side of the building.
The shelter, which was completed by mid-April, was erected after representations from Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik.
She wrote to Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail in July, saying she was “very disappointed” at the lack of evidence the Houses of Oireachtas Commission was taking active travel measures seriously.
She suggested there was a deficit in
“any understanding of the need to encourage greater use of bicycles” and there was an attitude that “cyclists are a nuisance” with a culture within Leinster House that was “overly subservient to cars”.
Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Kieran O’Donnell has asked his officials to carry out an immediate full review of the project.
In a statement, a spokesman for the OPW said it was procured through a framework agreement and complies with public procurement and planning guidelines.
He said the bike shelter is within the grounds of Leinster House, and its construction involved “several unique challenges”. The OPW said the structure consists of a steel-framed, glazed canopy to ensure long-term durability.
The materials used to build it included Irish granite, and the glass and steel were “carefully selected not only for their durability, but also for their compatibility with the historic setting of our national parliament”.
Spending this amount of money on the construction of a bike shelter at Leinster House is “inexcusable and inexplicable”, Taoiseach Simon Harris said.
Speaking ahead of the first Cabinet meeting of the new Dáil term, Mr Harris said: “I think everybody can see the benefit of having somewhere to park a bike in work, and people get that, but what they don’t get is the extraordinary sum of money that this is costing. I don’t either.
“I think it is inexcusable and inexplicable. This is the sort of thing that rightly angers and annoys people, and angers and annoys me as well. Yes, workplaces should provide somewhere to park the bike, but they shouldn’t do it in a manner that is lavish or extortionate in relation to the public purse.”