Comment & Analysis: Theres never money for people on the front line, says Sinn Fin spokesperson on finance Pearse Doherty when hes complaining about a secure bicycle shed in Dublin and Kerry for checks notes hospital staff. He has repeatedly said it is pure waste, but even if a project has an overspend, how are the bicycle parking sheds pure waste if they are used by staff? Calling it a designer bike shed because its made of steel and glass rather than bike parking unsheltered and unsecured in some far-off corner of a car park. Its throwing the baby out with the bathwater repeatedly.Doherty is highly intelligent. But, when it comes to bike sheds, he has decided that the populism seen in the US and UK will gain favour with voters. Sadly, he is likely right at least to some level. A larger problem is that the stop the waste mantra will not stop at bike sheds.Irelands health budget is 27.4 billion. For the shed at the Kerry hospital, the majority of the cost (70,000) was covered by active travel funding. If Doherty thinks the remainder 57,385 will have much impact on the health services problems, he might keep in mind that money spent on active travel is estimated to return many times over in health benefits. The Dutch, for example, estimate that for every 1 spent on cycling infrastructure, they save 30 from the health benefits alone.Staff who can cycle, making that choice to cycle to hospitals, is good for them personally, good for the health system as their employers, as it actively leads to fewer sick days, and good for the health service as cycling lowers the chances of illnesses. But maybe Doherty wants staff cycling to hospitals to have their bikes left less secured, adding to the risk that the bike wont be there when they return? And the hospital bicycle sheds are not the same as the Dil bike shed. The Dil shed, or more correctly, the Leinster House bike shelter, cost 336,000, or 9,333 per space (with a small bit of car park resurfacing, etc, also done in part of the project, which is strangely never mentioned).IMAGE: Leinster House bike shelter.The 127,385 spent on the latest bicycle shed in the news, at Unverity Hospital Kerry, amounts to just 3,184 per space for a far more substantial structure. The security at Leinster House is provided by way of Garda manning the gates and tall fences of our parliaments grounds, while the structures at the Dublin and Kerry hospitals are fully enclosed from the elements, use keypad access, and have lighting and CCTV.The problem with populist rhetoric is that it lumps everything together, and people who cannot accept the cost of things will see everything as waste. Its toxic.The excessive amount spent on the Dil bike shelter was a waste of money theres no doubt about that. It often does not even block the rain when the wind is blowing in a prevailing direction. But lets be honest, people turn a blind eye to the vastly more being spent on car parking and other car infrastructure. The fact that it was related to bicycles helped fuel the story with populists polititions and clickbait editors.While a shed will for many bring up the idea of an old wooden garden shed, thats not what this is. According to the Irish Independent, this was the breakdown in costs:Option A was a 40 cycle shelter with glazed aisle, hinged padlock door and toast rack which would cost 21,090 excluding VAT, while Option B was a Bespoke 40 Cycle Hub of galvanised steel and toughen glass which cost 57,790 not including VAT..The cost of the preferred option came to at 127,385 which included the cost of the hub at 49,990 plus steel bike racks at 7,800. Vat came to 13,292. Ground works came in at 39,363, including concrete and the demolition of the kerbs and tarmac and their replacement. Electrial work costs included CCTV and cabling came to 16,940 including VAT.Funding of 70,000 was provided, with UHK/HSE having to pay 57,385 for the project.Politicians like Doherty and others, who are complaining about cheaper options not being chosen, are using the cost of one part of the project and comparing the full costs to claim that an option 20 times the cost of a cheaper option was chosen. This does not account for the fact that groundwork, VAT, CCTV and lighting work would all need to have been paid for.But it also looks at the cost of everything without looking at the value of anything a shelter with only partial cover from the rain, and no extra security than a bicycle rack on a street, or a more of a shed structure with just a padlock and cheap toast rack stands (aka wheel benders). Its not like Doherty was not aware of any of the reasons for picking a higher standard option in the Dil, he dismissed toughened glass as if normal glass could be used on such a structure. No shock at car parking spendingAs Cycling Ireland president Ciaran Cannon said while posting a photo of the shed: This is the bike shed being described here. Its a safe, secure and appropriate bike park for 40 bikes, at a one-off cost of 3,175 per space. Meanwhile, why no furore over the OPW spending 3,500 per car parking space, every year? #carbrainThis is recurring funding. But yet no heads explode, and its not brought up over and over again in general discourse about public spending.Cannon also points to a guide from a chartered quantity surveyor firm, Buildcost, which outlines the construction costs of car parking, ranging from 4,500 to 85,000 per space, depending on the structures involved: This is not just abstract. A multi-storey car park at Wexford General Hospital recently cost around 13 million or 36,516 per space for the 356 spaces in the car park. Where is the outrage? And before you say that parking changes will cover the cost in a few years, the populists who complain about all bicycle parking construction costs generally also look for free hospital parking for all (even when such policies impact the people who most need car parking).In 2019, the Dutch city of Utrecht and national bodies spent an estimated 30 million to build a three-story bicycle parking unit with 12,500 spaces. If you suggested even a fraction of this for bicycle parking at an Irish train station, the heads of populists would explode, and somehow they would explode a second time when they find out that the parking unit was just one of a number built for tens of millions around Utrechts revamped train station.