Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have met with numerous subcontractors here. Some of the companies I have met with, which have operated for a number of generations, are about to go into liquidation themselves because of the collapse of Carillion and Sammon Contracting, and the fact they will not be paid. When one speaks to the principals of these family-owned companies, it sticks in their craw that the State will benefit from the work they did. They did hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of euro worth of work that they are unlikely to get paid for. The State will benefit from that through the use of these schools in September, and nobody wants to prevent that. They tell me there is no way whatsoever that an independent assessor can verify the work, the solution and the bonds. For example, the floor covering in one of these schools can be applied by only two companies in the entire State. They are unwilling to certify that the adhesive used was up to standard. There is no way an independent inspector can see what happens below the floor covering.

In terms of football pitches that were created, while one may be able to see the grass is a couple of inches long, or maybe not so long given the weather we have, there is no way that one can be satisfied the drainage, the pipes and the connections were done appropriately. We also have a knock-on effect in that the insurance provided for these products will not be guaranteed unless the subcontractor who installed them certifies the work.

I understand this is a mess of none of our making, and we all need to try to fix it. I have a concern that we may be fixing a problem in the short term, in getting the schools open and so on. There may be a longer-term problem which may involve court cases, breaches of European directives or non-insurance on products that are used in schools with thousands of our students on a daily basis. How does one satisfy those requirements? Is the easiest way not to ensure within a contract that the new contractor has to receive the certification from the subcontractors? If that means making sure they are paid, then so be it.