asked the Minister for Education the measures she will take to issue payments to an industrial and commercial contractor (details supplied) in County Wexford for outstanding payments due on various State projects which are in progress or have been completed and for which payment is overdue.
Written Answers. - Payments to Contractors.
170.
With regard to projects involving national schools, with three exceptions the contracts are between main contractors and the chairpersons of the schools' boards of management, the firm referred to in the question being subcontractors to the main contractors. These chairpersons are responsible for all payments. In the case of two of the projects, all grants payable to date have been paid, and in four other cases payments will shortly be made. In five further projects, information is awaited before payment of grants can be made.
In the three projects described as exceptions to the foregoing, the employer is the Office of Public Works, acting as agents for my Department. In two of these cases payments are currently being certified, and the Office of Public Works expects payments to be made in the near future to the main contractors. In the remaining case where the Office of Public Works is also the main employer, a claim for payment is being examined with a view to its early discharge.
I propose in relation to these national school projects to communicate further with the Deputy in regard to the details which he has been kind enough to supply in submitting his question.
With regard to secondary and vocational schools, the issue of payments to the contractor referred to is a matter in the first instance for the main contractors for the projects in question. Payments to main contractors are the responsibility of the client body, which in the case of secondary schools is the school authority and in the case of vocational schools the vocational education committee.