Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Having heard the Minister of State's reply, I am not better off than I was in the aftermath of having a parliamentary question on the matter tabled to the Minister for Education and Skills on my behalf. It is good to know that the responsibility for payment to Sammon Contracting Ireland Limited lay with Carillion Construction Limited but the subcontractors are seeking a meeting with the NDFA and we will be working on that. When people have done work and are awaiting payments that will protect their livelihoods and those of their families and that enable them to pay their mortgages but where no one is accountable, it is a very serious matter. They do the work and obtain their certificates but they do not get paid. That does not make sense and it does not matter who has to intervene. There has to be accountability regarding the subcontractors who have done their work and who need their money in order to survive. Putting the blame on one party or another is not good enough. The Minister of State mentioned DIF, the NDFA, etc., but what about the students waiting to go into the schools? I am not happy with the answer and I will not let this go. I will seek to meet with the Minister again.