Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, atá tagtha anseo inniu thar ceann an Aire Oideachais, an Teachta Norma Foley. Tá ceist an-mhór le plé. It is disappointing that the Minister, Deputy Foley, is unavoidably absent but the Minister of State is welcome to the Chamber to give her Department's response.
In 2017, the school community of Mercy Convent Primary School, Naas, learned the exciting news that the Department was proceeding to build a much-needed new school building. A state-of-the-art €9 million building was promised. This was to comprise 32 classrooms, a new staff room and a new assembly hall. One would think this was a dream come true. The works started in 2018 but unfortunately, following a number of building delays, unhappy differences arose between the construction firm and the Department in 2020 and work on the site ceased. The delays continue.
From the outside, the exterior of this new school building looks fantastic. The problem is that the interior works have not been completed. It is a mere shell and requires significant completion. We can be thankful that the building was rendered dry and free from any water ingress in 2021 but there is now an urgent need to implement the finishing contract.
The Department's tender process has finally been done. On 18 January, the Department approved the construction firm it envisages should finish the job. I am given to understand that the next procedural step in this process is for the Department to issue its formal letter of intent, but when?
Morale and resilience in the school is remarkably high. School numbers are thriving. Support for the school from parents is unwavering, but the incredibly patient parents have asked me to urge the Department and to plead with the Department to get the job done once and for all. It is becoming the most expensive school of its size in the history of the State. Millions of euro continue to be spent each year on renting the temporary prefab modular building. It has been speculated that the avoidable losses and the ongoing costs in court to date would have built a number of schools. A further example of the fact that this is haemorrhaging moneys from the Exchequer is the fact that the annual security bill to secure this long-term unoccupied building alone is estimated to run to €350,000 per annum. When work suddenly ceased, many of the windows and doors that were to be fitted were left unprotected and they perished. The costs keep escalating.
Right now, though, the parents do not want to go down the road of a blame game. They simply want to get the job done. A harsh reality of construction is that disputes can sometimes arise and normally the legal contract entered into between the parties deliberately includes an arbitration clause. The main purpose of this is to arrive at a speedy - I emphasise the word “speedy” - resolution without recourse to litigation in the High Court or the Supreme Court. The loyal parents, the dedicated school principal and his heroic staff, the board of management, the taxpayers, the many past pupils, the local community and, especially, the school-going children deserve better. They are entitled to an explanation of this fiasco and to expect a strict timeframe to be put in place to get the job done.
