An internal audit into the €336,000 bike shelter project at Leinster House has revealed that no prior assessment was conducted to determine value for money, reports Breaking News.
The audit noted that the project costs were never shared with the Houses of the Oireachtas and highlighted the absence of clear oversight guidelines for projects costing under €500,000.
Carried out by Deloitte, the report flagged three high-priority issues and pointed to “an absence of some fundamental good practices” concerning projects like the widely criticised bike shelter, reports Breaking News.
The auditors said a value for money analysis should have been done through “a robust options appraisal process.”
This process, they explained, would have evaluated “lower cost alternatives” or even considered the option of “doing nothing,” reports Breaking News.
They stated: “Approval to proceed with the project should only have been formalised when these evaluations were complete,” reports Breaking News.
The report also found that for projects under €500,000, there was no solid governance structure in place.
It said: “The OPW cannot demonstrate how value for money was considered across all aspects of the decision to proceed with the delivery of the covered bike shelter project.”
Another issue identified was that Leinster House management were not informed of the project’s cost until after its completion, reports Breaking News.
According to the audit: “The June 2021 decision to proceed with the Bike Shelter project was made without presentation or discussion of project costs. The HOC [Houses of the Oireachtas Commission] did not request cost information, and the OPW did not present cost information.”
The auditors warned that this led to a higher chance of poor value for money and “an increased risk of mismatch in expectations on delivery versus cost of delivery,” reports Breaking News.
In response, the OPW said it had accepted the findings and that cost details for Leinster House projects are now being shared more regularly.
The audit also stated that while the Office of Public Works had a programme management plan, it was “not necessarily easy to navigate” when it came to smaller-scale works such as the bicycle shelter.
They added: “Where there is a lack of oversight of projects, there is a risk that these projects may not represent value for money or may not deliver to exact requirements in an efficient and effective manner,” reports Breaking News.
It was also found that some project documentation lacked proper signatures or dates.
The internal auditors recommended that “sample-based spot checks” be introduced to confirm compliance.
A broader issue highlighted was that OPW’s internal auditors did not always receive timely updates or information from other staff, reports Breaking News.
They stated: “Where the [head of internal audit] is not at an equivalent level to the senior management team, there is a risk of lack of engagement from management. [There is also] a risk that the ARC [Audit and Risk Committee] is not receiving the appropriate assurance as to the effectiveness of the control environment within the OPW,” reports Breaking News.
The report was made public by the OPW following a Freedom of Information appeal.
In an accompanying note, the OPW stated: “The internal audit report will provide a focus for continuing to strengthen ways of working across the OPW, reports Breaking News.
“This report will provide a platform from which control improvements can be made for capital projects into the future. The OPW has accepted and is actively implementing all of the recommendations within the report,” reports Breaking News.
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