Bike shed groundhog day: Sinn Fein leader and Taoiseach clash on hospital costs

A 100,000 euro tender for a bicycle shelter at the National Maternity Hospital is “bike shed Groundhog Day”, Sinn Fein’s leader has said.

Addressing the Taoiseach at Leaders’ Questions on Tuesday, Mary Lou McDonald said she thought it was a “wind-up” when she first heard about the project.

In a testy exchange, Micheal Martin accused the opposition of hypocrisy, saying they had complained about a lack of investment in active travel and had requested bike shelters in the past before later complaining about the costs.

However, the Fianna Fail leader admitted: “It should not have to cost 100,000 euro to provide a bike shed.”

Referencing the 2022 row over the ownership of the new site of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park in Dublin, he also claimed the price of delays to the maternity hospital far exceeded the proposed cost of the bike shed.

He said: “Some of the members opposite preferred to spend time talking about theocracy and the Vatican and everything else rather than getting the green light much earlier and getting the project through.”

The Sinn Fein leader hit back saying: “Your Government’s track record in terms of wastage of public money is absolutely incredible.

“Your performance and your attempt at a smart-alecky narrative is probably the reason.

“You do not take it seriously.”

The bad-tempered exchange continued with Mr Martin accusing members of the opposition of making assertions that were ”bogus, flawed and not serious” and telling them to “cop yourself on”.

In early September 2024, it was revealed a bike shelter constructed at Leinster House cost 336,000 euro and led to a number of controversial revelations around public spending, including the 1.4 million euro cost of constructing a security hut at Government Buildings.