Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 June 2018
140. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he had a contingency plan in place when a company (details supplied) went into examinership in January 2018; and if not, the reason therefor [28219/18]
View answerIn April 2018 when the company referred to by the Deputy entered into the examinership, my Department worked closely with the ETB’s concerned to monitor closely the progress of projects during this period. As part of contingency planning arrangements, officials from my Department and the relevant ETBs met with the contractor and the examiner in mid-April to discuss their plans to deliver the outstanding school projects. While work was continuing on one project, work has ceased on three other projects and these contracts were terminated in early May. The final contract was terminated upon the liquidation of the contractor in June 2018.
In the case of all projects, steps have been taken to put alternative arrangements in place and I have requested my officials to provide me with a critical path for the completion of the outstanding projects and to consider how each stage in that critical path can be delivered as quickly as possible while also ensuring that the quality and integrity of the project is fully protected. Etender notices have already been published seeking expressions of interest from contractors wishing to be considered for the completion of two of the projects and a further eTenders will be published later this week in respect of the third project. Identification of all outstanding works necessary to complete all schools is also on-going. This is the normal process followed when an insolvency event occurs.
