Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. The final part is important and the key. There is no doubt that the schools have done great work in opening and dealing with the issues that have arisen. The fact, however, is that these are brand-new schools and they should not have to deal with these issues. That also has to be recognised by the Department. As the Minister said, more than half of the 42 schools built by the company concerned, Western Building Systems, have been confirmed as needing remediation work or at least precautionary protective measures pending further investigation. I am thankful the Educate Together school in Letterkenny was one of the schools that showed no problems when reviewed and was able to resume activity. It is clear, however, that the Department's design-and-build programme was compromised in some way or another, and that is the crux of the problem. It might have been through not thoroughly investigating companies in the procurement process prior to signing the contract or through not inspecting buildings properly.

I have seen from previous commentary that questions remain as to who is ultimately responsible. That is what we need to get to. Ultimately, the Department is responsible because it is the procurement body and it is paying. The people are not getting what they are paying for and this has to be addressed and examined by the Department. Changes have to be put in place to make sure contractors comply with what is required of them.

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