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Schools Building Projects Status

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018

Thursday, 18 October 2018

Questions (54)

Robert Troy

Question:

54. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the completion date for a school (details supplied). [42072/18]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

The question relates to a school building project that is under way, namely, the relocation of Curraghmore national school to the Ardmore Road in Mullingar, which was due to be completed in September but is far from completed. I would like an update on the project and an outline of what role the Department can play in ensuring this contractor lives up to the timeframe stipulated in the contract that was awarded.

I have been made aware of the building project for the school to which the Deputy is referring. Delays have, unfortunately, been experienced in delivering this project. These arose because the contractor encountered unforeseen bad ground conditions, together with severe weather events, which we will all remember from earlier this year. The project had been scheduled for completion for September 2018 but, in view of the issues met by the contractor, the likely completion date is now April 2019.

I know how disappointing this is for the school and I understand how difficult it is for it to manage a growing enrolment until its new building is in place. It is, however, in the nature of any building project, whether it is a school, an office block or a house, that unforeseen issues can arise. The objective is always to deal with these as efficiently as possible to minimise delay.

The project is being delivered by the local county council, which is continuing to pursue the contractor for as speedy a delivery of the project as possible. The council has the full support of my Department in its efforts to achieve this without compromising the integrity of the building being delivered. To ensure the school is kept fully up to date with progress on the project, the county council will be providing the board of management with monthly updates. The intention is that this approach will provide accurate and precise information to help the school to plan and manage its needs until its permanent accommodation is available.

The Minister is right in some respects. This school was promised a new building in 2013 and it has been waiting a hell of a long time. It is currently working out of very substandard accommodation. Despite that, it is fortunate to have excellent teachers and the quality of education has not been diminished. However, it is not right and not fair for the students and the teachers to have to put up with the facilities they are operating from.

There was an absolute logjam in September because, at the Department's request, the school took in an additional junior infants class and the traffic was serious. I compliment the school authorities for staggering the opening hours to facilitate better access. While I accept there has been bad weather and unforeseen circumstances, and the council has allowed the contractor a one-month extension, we are now talking about a completion date of April of next year, which is much longer than a month. Unforeseen circumstances are understandable but having a skeleton staff working on the development is not unforeseen circumstances. We need to bring pressure on this contractor to accelerate the effort to get these pupils into their new school without further delay.

While the Deputy will be aware of the status of the project, for the purposes of the public record, I point out the contractor is on programme to complete the development in line with its construction programme by April 2019. More than 90% of the blockwork is complete overall, with 100% of the structural blockwork complete to roof level. Concrete roof beams are almost complete and the roof steel is due on site next week. Over 45% of the mechanical installation is complete on the ground floor and over 85% of site drainage works are complete. Works have commenced on the provision of the staff car park and the set-down area, including internal roads and the foundations for the boundary wall. In preparation for the opening of the new school, phase one works to upgrade the footpaths on the road extraneous to the site are completed and the county council reports this has made a great improvement to the safety of this road for motorists and pedestrians. Nonetheless, I take the Deputy's point in terms of the frustrations. People want to see progress, particularly parents and students.

The Minister is right. I drive by the school a couple of times a week and I can see that progress has been made in recent weeks, so full compliments to Westmeath County Council for sitting on this contractor. However, it is no secret that for weeks and months a skeleton staff was operating there. It was not the weather because there were no staff there on good days, or very few staff. I want to know what penalties will be imposed. It is simply not good enough that somebody who was awarded a lucrative State contract to provide a much-needed, long overdue service can delay like this, for whatever reason. Maybe he is trying to keep two jobs going - I do not know - but he signed up to a contract and he is not honouring that commitment. He got a small extension, not an extension until April of next year. We need to send out a clear message that if we want to provide infrastructure and services for the community at taxpayers' expense, there have to be consequences for the contractors who fail to deliver that. I want the Minister to make a commitment today that those like this contractor will face consequences for not fulfilling their contractual obligations.

A number of issues have arisen on the project, as the Deputy will be aware from hearing it anecdotally on the ground, and these have been referred to conciliation in accordance with the contract. Conciliation is confidential as it deals with contractual issues. While I cannot give the specifics of the issue in this conciliation case, I take on board that the Deputy has raised this issue with a view to getting this project across the line as quickly as possible.

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