Thomas Byrne
Question:87. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of works conducted on schools completed by a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49446/18]
View answerWednesday, 28 November 2018
Questions (87)
Written answers
As the Deputy is aware, over the course of the mid-term break my Department undertook structural assessments on all 42 school buildings constructed by Western Building Systems since 2003 following the identification of significant structural issues at Ardgillan Community College in Balbriggan during an assessment undertaken by a structural engineer at the school on 19 October. The safety of school students and staff has been and will continue to be, my Department's overriding priority.
The summary outcome of the structural assessments conducted across the 42 schools is as follows:
- 19 schools cleared to open in full without any precautionary works
- 19 schools enabled to open in full following external precautionary measures in the form of fencing around all or part of the building and protective decking
- 3 schools enabled to open, initially at ground floor level only, following the implementation of both internal and external precautionary measures. This relates to two schools in Tyrrelstown and Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada in Lucan.
- building (Phase 1 of Ardgillan Community College) closed
Internal precautionary measures works are currently ongoing on the upper floors to the 3 schools which were opened at ground floor initially only. This will enable all 3 schools to fully open and students who temporarily decanted offsite to return in the coming weeks. This is the immediate priority for my Department.
The Department will be moving as quickly possible to the next phase of detailed structural investigations at all the 42 schools, which will determine the nature and extent of permanent remediation measures required. The initial planning and preparations for this next phase has now commenced.