Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There have been other schools projects that have attracted much publicity where contractors have gone bust. How many of them have occurred under the Department's Vote since 2010? Can we get a list of all the schools and campuses where the contractor has ceased trading during the course of the project and another contractor had to come in? After it had happened once or twice, it must have set alarm bells ringing. Does the Department have mechanisms in place because unfortunately this is not unusual now? I hope the Department is on top of the potential problems that can arise. Does it have such a thing as a completion bond? In other words, when a contractor is given a €10 million or €20 million job to do, does he not need to produce a bond guaranteeing that he will complete the job before the Department gives him the job? Surely the Department would not enter an agreement for, for example, €40 million without the contractor having a bond to guarantee that the job will be completed? Would there not be some insurance bond from which it could claim?