I was expecting something, anything, for all my money. And yours too.I was expecting something a bit grander...
I was expecting something, anything, for all my money. And yours too.I was expecting something a bit grander...
What's really depressing is that this sort of thing isn't surprising.I was expecting something, anything, for all my money. And yours too.
That's frankly ridiculous, anyone involved in entry level procurement should have a business degree, procurement experience preferably in multinational land and a procurement qualification.....The major problem with all of these kinds of things is the fact that Civil Servants are mostly "generalists" and haven't a clue what things should cost in the open market. They are simply required to get three quotes and go with the cheapest - all other things being equal. Suppliers know this and play the game accordingly...
This has to be the explanation surely.Theory doing the rounds online is that there resurfacing works done on the car park and the bike shed used as an excuse to grab 'active travel' budget for it.
The procurement rules in the civil service are very comprehensive and offer little room for manoeuvre. It doesn’t take any market knowledge to follow them properly.From my experience in the Civil Service (doing a small amount of procurement work) it's probably a Principal Officer who would have signed off on this contract - so it should be relatively easy to pinpoint whoever authorized the final invoice. The major problem with all of these kinds of things is the fact that Civil Servants are mostly "generalists" and haven't a clue what things should cost in the open market. They are simply required to get three quotes and go with the cheapest - all other things being equal. Suppliers know this and play the game accordingly...
I believe there are quite a few Civil Servants (former and current) on this forum and I'm sure most would confirm that the file on a bicycle shelter would be very small beer in the scheme of things. Anyone who has ever worked on PQs, Ministerial Representations and FOIs would have been well used to clearing these facts in a day or two.
I'd expect the so-called "review" to be available within a week or so....
Will agree to differ on that.You don’t need a degree to do procurement. Nobody who buys stuff where I work had a degree in “how to buy stuff” and we spent millions each year buying stuff from all over the world. You certainly don’t need one to buy a bicycle shelter.
You just need to know how to use Google.
Even if you’ve never bought anything in your life you should be able to ask yourself “should a bicycle shelter cost as much as a small house?” and get the answer right.
This should also be an opportunity to take a step back and look at those procurement rules to see if they are fit for purpose, or are being too restrictive \ prescriptive and ruling out cost effective options. Is the lack of market knowledge costing millions of euros.The procurement rules in the civil service are very comprehensive and offer little room for manoeuvre. It doesn’t take any market knowledge to follow them properly.
The question to be answered here is whether the procurement rules were followed and, if not, why not.
Those biodegradable plastic bags are useless at keeping your backside dry! It’s all Eamonn Ryan’s fault.Minister responsible for OPW spending has “audacity” to blame cyclists for cost of €335k Leinster House bike stand -- IrishCycle.com
— Minister responsible for spending on bicycle stand said that TDs and staff should just put a “plastic bag over their saddle” and use a normal bike stand. A Government Minister w…irishcycle.com
A breakdown of the costs, copies of the invoices and the names of the individuals within the OPW who signed off on each invoice should be provided to the PAC and they in turn should involve the Gardaí if required.The deputy chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, Catherine Murphy, was among those to call on the OPW to provide a breakdown of all the costs associated with the construction of the shelter.
This is very telling. It suggests that senior officials can’t be trusted to ensure that contracts up to a value of 500,000 represent value for money. These are so-called “minor” contracts in the bigger scheme of things although cumulatively they would amount to a significant sum.The OPW is now set to review its system that allows senior officials to sign off on spending under certain contracts of up to €500,000.
I'm all for that, but only with the absolutely essential accountability and sanctionability that should accompany it.There’s merit in responsibility for relatively low-value contracts being delegated downwards but it requires an understanding of what this responsibility requires.