asked the Minister for Education if she is aware of the serious structural and maintenance problems which have developed in two schools (details supplied) in the Dublin 5 area, although these schools have only been built in recent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Dublin Schools' Structural Problems.
16.
The two schools in the Dublin 5 area referred to by the Deputy were built in stages between 1970 and 1974, and part of the cost was met by my Department by way of grant in the usual way. In the case of one of the schools the authorities noticed in 1982 that plaster was coming away from the ceiling and feared that there was a danger of the roof slabs collapsing. Problems were also being encountered in relation to other features, mainly arising from the poor quality of the timber available in the early seventies. The window frames in particular were in very bad condition. Professional advisers were engaged by the school authorities and in consulation with professional officers of the Board of Works proposed a scheme of remedial works which was accepted by my Department for grant purposes and authorisation was given to the school authorities to place a contract which they duly did. The works have been carried out and grants paid.
Approximately one-third of the cost of the work related to the treatment of the ribbed concrete roof slabs which had been formed in permanent woodwool insulation shuttering of a type which was an accepted form of construction used extensively at the time the school was designed. Tests carried out to establish whether the roof was structurally sound included a deflection test which established that the roof slabs were sound but it was found that the concrete cover was faulty. With the benefit of modern research it could be shown that the danger lay not in the possibility of structural failure in the normal course but in the possibility that the slabs would collapse prematurely in the event of a fire. It was decided that this condition should be rectified and that the work qualified for grant payment under the Department's scheme of improvements.
Other works carried out as part of the contract included the installation of replacement aluminium windows, and the treatment of flat roofs. During the course of investigations referred to, the Department's attention was drawn to, the emergence of similar problems in another school in the same district which had been built around the same time as the first school under investigation. A scheme of remedial works has also been agreed in this case with the school authorities, and a grant has been sanctioned. The works have been carried out by the school authorities and grant applied for.
While my Department are concerned that relatively extensive works have had to be undertaken in these two schools built in the early seventies, I am satisfied that the problems which developed were not caused by neglect to maintain the premises on the part of the school authorities, and that the particular feature which gave rise to the fears concerning the safety of the building was an accepted form of construction at the relevent time, and was in the course of the investigation found to have adequate structural strength.