Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said in her reply that "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". I suppose that is the problem. I think the Department of Education and Skills should be required to retain the final payment until it has sought and received certification from the subcontractors that they are happy for that payment to be made to the main contractor. This could be done very easily. I do not think the final 30% or 40% of contract moneys should be paid to the main contractor until all of the subcontractors have signed off on it in this way. I do not doubt that the Department is committed to this approach. If the problem in Kilfinane is replicated all over the country, there will be no winners. This is a particular problem for children and teachers.

I accept the Minister of State's assertion that the Department "has no legal authority to intervene in legally binding contracts". However, I remind the House that the Department has a role in the formulation of those contracts. As I have said, the race to the bottom means that the Department is not prepared to consider the previous history of these companies. There are characters in the wild west that I would not compare to some of those involved in these companies. The people in question have no interest in providing a decent level of service. They are trying to undermine everybody else as part of the race to the bottom.

I urge the Government to introduce a system whereby 20% or 30% of the final payment is retained pending a certification process to be invoked by the Department. The last tranche of finance should not be paid until the Department is satisfied that genuine subcontractors - plumbers and electricians, etc. - have been paid. In his initial statement, the Minister said that these school projects would stimulate local economies. The local economy in south and east Limerick has been left absolutely devastated by this difficulty, which is being dragged into the public arena for a second time. The Minister of State knows the areas in question. I am sure she knows some of the people concerned. Neither the subcontractors nor the parents wanted to do what they had to do. In the middle of the whole thing is a contractor who has just walked off. The whole thing stinks to high heavens. We need to make sure it does not happen again. As a way of going forward, I have suggested that we provide for a process of certification, with a suitable amount being retained.

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