It comes after the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl described the saga as a “profound embarrassment” at the resumption of the Dáil yesterday.
At the meeting, which is scheduled for October 10, members of PAC are seeking a briefing on the costs associated with the bike shelter.
Sinn Féin’s Brian Stanley, the chair of the committee, said it would also request all documentation related to the contract, including a timeline for the concept to delivery and value-for-money report.
“We’re agreeing to schedule a meeting with the OPW on the 10th of October, and we’re doing it on that date, because there is a report to come from The [Comptroller and Auditor General] within a couple of weeks, hopefully on this, which will have information on this matter,” Mr Stanley said.
Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said the issue of the bike shed was something that had been brought up multiple times and that “rightly or wrongly, the public believe that when works take place in this house, they believe that there is some political oversight”.
“The facts that have been put in the media so far seem to indicate that this was a decision made entirely within the OPW itself.
“I think we have to explore that. We have to find out who the decision makers were. If there was no involvement or sign up by elected members on this, we have to ask that question, why?”
Mr McAuliffe said the public were “really, really angry” about the cost of the shelter and that, within an election context, politicians who were not involved in the construction would “pay the price”.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said there should be no secrets when it came to accountability over the affair and claimed “no one in their right mind” could have thought it permissible to spend that amount of money on a shelter for bicycles.
The minister, who was taking Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Thursday, was responding to an assertion from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín that the episode was evidence of an “accountability-free zone” at the heart of the Government.
“I think that the Gucci bike shed that we see is a microcosm of the L’Oreal attitude of this Government – that ‘we are worth it’,” said Mr Tóibín.
The glass-covered shelter, located on the grounds of Leinster House, has been the subject of criticism and ridicule for its high cost.
A breakdown from the Office of Public Works (OPW) shows almost €284,000 was spent on construction and installation, almost €4,000 on archaeological services, and more than €10,000 on contract administration services.
The chairman of the OPW, which is the landlord of Leinster House and other historic buildings, is preparing a report on the bike shed project for Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell.
Mr Tóibín suggested that accountability in this instance would consist of claims that “lessons will be learned” and the publication of a report “just when everybody else has moved on”.
“The question I’m asking for you is: when are we going to have individual responsibility?” he asked Mr O’Brien.
“When will there be a cost for decisions that are made, such as this, that cost the country so much. Who signed off on the Government bike shed and what rank were they within the OPW?”
Mr O’Brien said all TDs abhorred the “really poor management and lack of accountability” in relation to the shelter’s construction.
“It frustrates people and angers people. It angers me too. And certainly we need accountability,” he said, adding that “we should also know what process was followed and how in God’s name someone thought to spend €336,000 on a bike rack would be something that would be permissible. No one in their right mind would actually think that.”
It comes as internal records from the Oireachtas show the completion date for the controversial project slipped repeatedly.
Strict conditions were also put in place for the project on when work could take place, to ensure “full dust containment” and avoid any debris ending up in easily blocked historic drains.
A meeting between the OPW and the Oireachtas last September was told that the foundations for the project were to be laid in the coming weeks but that “effectively work can now only proceed during non-sitting periods”.
Notes of the meeting said: “A completion date will be around the 14th [of] January whereby the car parking spaces [for TDs and Senators] will be returned for use.”
By the following month, the project still appeared to be on track with “fabrication in process” and the “handover” date still set for mid-January.
However, by the time January came, the project was nowhere near finished, with minutes of a meeting saying the new completion date was now the second week of March.
By February, progress was delayed again – this time until the end of March and after the St Patrick’s Day break.
The documents also detail how the Oireachtas were worried about the temporary loss of parking spaces for politicians.
Another email from last September explained how the original plans for the shelter had included the provision of EV charging points for bicycles.
However, that was dropped due to what was seen as a “significant fire risk”.
The update also detailed how the site for the shelter near Leinster Lawn had been chosen “for visibility and in support of sustainable transport.”
Another message in January explained how contractors had unexpectedly “encountered large blocks of concrete” which needed to be removed.
By the end of February, another issue had arisen where there were space constraints around moving the frame for the shelter, which had not been considered.
Even the election of Taoiseach Simon Harris proved a headache for the project as it rumbled on into late March, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
An email between officials said: “The election of the Taoiseach is Tuesday 9th and therefore Monday 8th might mean no access for works on the bike parking on the Merrion side.”
