Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are many specific questions. I met with my officials before I came into the Chamber. I asked them to make themselves available to members of the Opposition tomorrow. They will meet together at 10.30 a.m. They will make contact with the Opposition spokespersons and, I suggest, the members of the education committee to do a full briefing. This is a very serious issue.

Deputy Thomas Byrne raised a question about WBS. I met the Attorney General today and talked to him about future contracts. Personally I could not stand over a situation emerging where we have two schools - I have heard some of the feedback on Ardgillan - in which there are no wall ties and wooden panels are not bolted to steel girders. It is unacceptable that the lives of students, teachers and staff have been put at risk. I hope that tomorrow we will have a chronological outline of which schools will be inspected next. I am not working on the basis that it is 2009 to 2013 any more. There is an issue with WBS. We have to be vigilant. There is a lot of litigation and I am advised as the Minister to be careful what I say about litigation. I will not be careful about what I say when it comes to lives. As a result of this decanting, many lives will be disrupted. Parents already have very busy lives. The most precious thing to them is obviously their children but time is also a precious thing. We need a whole-community approach. I implore my colleagues across the House that we try to work together on this. There are serious questions about how we got here and how these buildings were allowed to be built in such a short period of time. It took three months to build a two-storey to three-storey building. These are the questions. I will try to keep the House updated as best I can and try to keep the communication open. My officials will be working very hard to ensure that happens.

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue.

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