Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy made a series of observations and asked some questions, to which I will try to respond as best I can. To be clear, it was the role of the clerk of works that I was talking about yesterday at the meeting of the joint committee. That role is to give additional oversight. If the clerk of works sees something that indicates safety is not being done right, he or she has a responsibility to issue a direction and ensure it is done right.

That might involve ensuring that the work is happening within a particular period of time. The clerk of works has a general role, but it is not his or her responsibility to ensure compliance. I made that distinction yesterday. Compliance is the responsibility of the contractor, even if he or she is sub-contracting the work or supplying different bricklayers for the site. I am not blaming anyone for this because we have no evidence yet. We are pursuing legal channels to establish the facts. The contractor has responsibility for compliance, and the line of communication between the sub-contractors and contractor is important.

At each stage of the building, be it the closing of the cavity walls or the putting on of joists, extra oversight costs money and is therefore resource dependent. Perhaps something will emerge from the investigation or review into design-build-operate, DBO, contracts in that regard. We need to be very realistic about this. There is a culture of taking responsibility in this country. There are good bricklayers working this morning, and contractors and designers are doing their work in compliance with regulations and legislation. This is why it is important to pursue legal channels, to ensure that the deficits or weaknesses in this system are addressed.

There is no correlation between a fire safety audit and the structural defects found in Ardgillan. However, as a result of the findings that some schools have severe fire safety defects, there is now a correlation established between fire safety and structural issues. This has been highlighted in the last fortnight.

The Deputy mentioned criminal investigations and asked whether An Garda Síochána will be asked to investigate. My job is to ensure that the legal team in the Department continues to work closely with the office of the Attorney General and the CSSO to ensure there is a proper and deliberate pursuit of truth and an inquiry into who is responsible for this. We will see what emerges from that investigation.

The awarding of contracts was discussed. In this DBO 60% is awarded on technical merit and 40% is awarded on cost.

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