Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is right. I drive by the school a couple of times a week and I can see that progress has been made in recent weeks, so full compliments to Westmeath County Council for sitting on this contractor. However, it is no secret that for weeks and months a skeleton staff was operating there. It was not the weather because there were no staff there on good days, or very few staff. I want to know what penalties will be imposed. It is simply not good enough that somebody who was awarded a lucrative State contract to provide a much-needed, long overdue service can delay like this, for whatever reason. Maybe he is trying to keep two jobs going - I do not know - but he signed up to a contract and he is not honouring that commitment. He got a small extension, not an extension until April of next year. We need to send out a clear message that if we want to provide infrastructure and services for the community at taxpayers' expense, there have to be consequences for the contractors who fail to deliver that. I want the Minister to make a commitment today that those like this contractor will face consequences for not fulfilling their contractual obligations.

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