Dublin City Council has confirmed that a planned extension of the Dublin Bikes scheme has been postponed pending further funding.

The service had been due to be extended to the new DIT campus at Grangegorman by later this year.

In a statement to Newstalk, the council said that the expansion is being put on hold for financial reasons.

"Dublin City Council cannot proceed with the extension until such time as a funding mechanism for the annual operational costs of the existing and expanded scheme is identified," it said.

"The timeframe for any expansion therefore cannot be determined at this point."

A report prepared by the council in April said that membership fees and user charges were insufficient to cover the service's expansion and ongoing operating costs.

The report, seen by Newstalk, suggested that the annual membership fee be increased from €20 to €25 in 2016 and €25 to €30 in 2017.

Additional advertising structures were also recommended as a possible funding mechanism.

Dublin City Council spent €376,211 on the scheme in 2015. A further €312,000 in sponsorship is provided every year by Coca Cola.  

The Irish Times reported earlier that the National Transport Authority (NTA) provided details of plans for 15 new bike stations to then minister for transport Paschal Donohoe in February.

The NTA told Mr Donohoe that the extension would be in place by September or October, the paper said.

Nine were due to be set up in the Grangegorman area, with four others planned for the north-inner city.

An NTA spokesperson contacted by Newstalk declined to confirm whether the extension was on hold.  

"The NTA is fully supportive of the project.  We are not in a position to make a comment on this as it is a matter for the city council," it said.