Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which gives me an opportunity to update her and the House on the current position in respect of the issues affecting Duleek Boys National School and Duleek Girls National School since their building project was completed in 2015. Since then the school authorities in question have identified a number of issues with the completed works that have been a cause of concern, some of which have been mentioned by the Senator. The National Development Finance Agency, on behalf of and supported by officials within my Department, has engaged with the school authorities and the contractor with a view to resolving these issues.

A UK-based roofing expert was appointed to investigate the roofing issues and a programme of repair work was undertaken in 2019 with the roofing expert retained to assess if this programme of works was successful. Issues persist with the roof, however, and unfortunately Covid-19 restrictions have affected the completion of the roofing expert’s assessment and recommendations. The NDFA has engaged with officials in the Department and with the schools over the past number of months in order to expedite this process and the resolution of the roofing concerns. I can inform the Senator that officials from the NDFA and the contractor have been on site and I understand the contractor is currently finalising its rectification proposals for the current issues.

Photographic surveys of the roof took place on 3 March and on 12 April to gather further information on the current condition of the roof and this information has been made available to the schools. As discussed with the schools, an expert assessment and recommendation will be completed in respect of the overall roof construction and performance in advance of any works carried out. I assure the Senator that the completion of this assessment is a priority for my Department and I also will raise the Senator’s comments with the Minister, Deputy Foley. This assessment will address the integrity and the ongoing performance of the roofing system and the potential longer-term problems and risks presented by the roof's current configuration. The assessment must also present a robust solution and recommendations to resolve these potential longer-term problems for the lifetime of the roof.

On the other issues raised by the Senator, I can confirm that with the agreement of the Department and in consultation with the schools, investigation and rectification of these issues have commenced.

Finally, the schools had raised a concern about the water supply and I am glad that the Senator has acknowledged that this has been rectified and addressed through the Department’s emergency works scheme. Officials from the Department will collaborate with the schools on any further issues into the future. I thank the Senator again for giving me the opportunity to inform the House of the position as regards these two schools. It is regrettable that some outstanding issues with a building project that was completed as recently as 2015 remain to be resolved and I appreciate the frustration of the school authorities and of the Senator at the time it has taken to find a solution. I can, however, assure the entire school community that the NDFA, which is supported by the Department, is making every effort to work with all of the stakeholders to achieve a satisfactory resolution to the outstanding issues.