Ex-minister in charge of OPW when security hut was built only heard of cost at PAC hearing
Patrick O'Donovan said he only became aware of the price tag on the hut when the chairman of the OPW appeared before the committee and heard about the bike shed through the media. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA
Patrick O'Donovan has said that the first he heard of the €1.4m spend on the security hut at Government buildings was when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was informed.
The former minister of state with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) was in the role at the time both the security hut and bike shed were constructed.
However, Mr O'Donovan said he only became aware of the price tag on the hut when the chairman of the OPW appeared before the committee and heard about the bike shed through the media.
While the current minister for further and higher education agreed that the scandal of the €336,000 bike shed was embarrassing for the government, he refused to take responsibility for the shed or the security hut.
"I wasn't responsible for it. I didn't approve money scripts because that is not the role of the minister of state for the office of public works," Mr O'Donovan said.
"The minister doesn't make decisions or order particular projects to be done."
You do not get a day-by-day detailed analysis with regard to individual projects as minister as there are thousands of projects underway at any given time, the Limerick TD said.
"The minister is not the accounting officer and the minister is not the person who signs off on expenditure with regard to the OPW."
He said the monies are voted from the Dáil to the department and the expenditure is then carried out by John Conlon, the current accounting officer and chairman of the OPW.
Mr Conlon has taken leadership with regard to the current impasse, has laid out the costs and given assurances that changes will be made to make sure it doesn't happen again, said Mr O'Donovan.
The minister encouraged people to look at the entirety of the work carried out by the OPW saying it is easy to focus on one or two projects but the department has "transformed" the country.
Mr O'Donovan was speaking at a post-budget briefing where he outlined expenditure for the €4.5bn budget which he said is "going directly into future-proofing for our students" with investments in campuses and staff as well as supporting the growth of apprenticeship programmes.
