Tóibín Writes to Comptroller and Auditor General Seeking Investigation into Public Spending on Leinster House Infrastructure
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has written to the Comptroller and Auditor General today seeking an immediate investigation into the Office of Public Works following revelations regarding the Leinster House Bike Shed and the Department of Finance Security Office.
Speaking today, the Meath West TD said:
"People have had enough of this government’s waste. We are waiting for seven years for the planning permission for life saving OPW projects such as the Midleton flood defences, yet money is being squandered on pet projects for the political class. The Gucci bike shed, and the salubrious security hut are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of government waste.
Incredibly the OPW outsource the tendering of Bike Shed sized jobs to a private firm. The oversight of this tendering is also outsourced to a private Quantity Surveyor. I don’t believe that this arm’s length oversight is good enough.
The mammoth cost of the security hut is being blamed on technology and mechanical costs. We need to know how this can be the case and we need to analyse the decision-making process.
Shockingly it appears that the audit of these overspends is going to be outsourced and will go to tender. This will mean that there will be a big chunk of extra cost to investigate the extra cost already incurred.
The key reform we need is that individuals within the Public Service tasked with spending state money need to have hard wired into their job contracts and their job spec the responsibility to achieve value for money. If there is no individual responsibility to protect taxpayers money these crises will repeat over and over again".
