Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am responding to the Deputy on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Quinn. I will convey the suggestions made by the Deputy to the Minister. The Deputy will be aware of the context in which decisions on meeting the accommodation needs of schools must be considered over the coming years. Total enrolment is expected to grow by approximately 70,000 students between now and 2018. This equates to more than 45,000 students at primary level and 25,000 students at post-primary level. Second level enrolment is expected to continue to increase until at least 2024. The five-year programme that was announced last spring by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, will provide more than 100,000 permanent school places, of which over 80,000 will be new school places. The rest of the places will be provided by means of the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.

Although the Department of Education and Skills is the primary funding agency, it is generally not the contracting authority on school building projects and therefore has no legal authority to intervene in legally binding contracts involving third parties. A school building project is a complex arrangement of contractual relationships between the client, the main contractor, specialist subcontractors, domestic subcontractors, suppliers of materials and suppliers of plant etc. In general, all subcontractors employed on school building projects are employed directly by the main contractor or indirectly by the main contractor through other subcontractors. It is a matter for all subcontractors to agree terms, conditions and payment schedules with main contractors as their direct employers. As contracting authorities such as schools and VECs have no control over the subcontracts entered into by main contractors, they hold no information relating to those subcontracts. As such, no responsibility or power rests with them to resolve contractual issues relating to those subcontractors.

With regard to the recent cases highlighted in the media, the Minister for Education and Skills is satisfied that all moneys due to be paid under the terms of the main contract on each project have been paid to the main contractor. If an allegation of non-compliance with pay and conditions of employment arises, the allegation should be reported to the appropriate statutory dispute investigation and resolution mechanisms provided by the State. The main statutory agency charged with this function is the National Employment Rights Authority, which has the remit, resources, experience and statutory powers to investigate and resolve these matters in the most efficient and impartial manner. If serious breaches are alleged, it is possible to refer the matter directly to the Labour Court.

The main aim of the Construction Contracts Bill 2010 is to address the issue of non-payment to construction sector contractors, subcontractors and subcontractors of subcontractors who have completed work to the required standard on construction projects. As currently drafted, the Bill seeks to address these issues by providing statutory arrangements for payments under construction contracts, including interim payments, thereby reducing a payee's exposure to non-payment. It also proposes to introduce a new mechanism for the swift resolution of payment disputes through a process of adjudication. I assure the Deputy and the House that departmental officials will continue to liaise with the school authorities and are monitoring progress on these projects.

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