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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said it will be difficult to find alternative classroom accommodation for students affected by the closure of schools with fire safety and structural defects.
He also confirmed that approximately 40 schools will be inspected amidst concerns about structural issues at a number of facilities.
Two schools and a building at a third, all in Dublin, have been closed so far this week following inspections by the Department of Education.
They are Tyrrelstown Educate Together, St Luke’s National School also in Tyrrelstown and Ardgillan Community College in Balbriggan.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said approximately 40 schools will be inspected over the mid-term and the following week. It should be completed by mid-November.
However, he warned that it is going to be difficult to find alternative accommodation for students, stating that while some local sports halls have been suggested, it is going to be a difficult task to find space to accommodate 25 classrooms.
“Everything will be done to find accommodation nearby, but it is going to be difficult”
“We also need to carry out the necessary structural investigations to get a full-scale of the problem,” he said.
Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary said teachers, principals, and parents are being drip-fed information about school closures.
The Taoiseach said he appreciates people’s understanding at the moment, adding that the department is attempting to regularly update schools. He admitted that there is an information as the government does not have all the information yet.
It certainly appears that corners were cut back in the Celtic Tiger period when it came to the building of some of these schools. That is truly disgraceful. We are in a very different position now.
For the last couple of years a clerk of works was present on site every day when a school was being built in order to make sure that it was built up to standard. It certainly appears that prior to 2014 or 2015, and particularly during the Celtic tiger period, schools were built without proper oversight. We now have to go back, make sure they are safe, fix them, and pursue the people responsible.
Education Minister Joe McHugh told reporters today that he hopes the assessment of all the schools impacted will be completed by the end of the mid-term break next week.
TheJournal Politics / TwitterEducation Minster says the government is treating the school closures and safety issues very seriously pic.twitter.com/jtyr5VUtEE
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) October 24, 2018
If extra workers need to be brought in from the UK to ensure that deadline is met, McHugh said that should be done. He said he understands that while parents are concerned about the safety of their children, there are also concerns and worries about organising childcare if delays persist in getting the schools reopened.
He urged communities to come together and those with information about possible alternative accommodation should contact their local principal.
The 40 schools affected were all constructed by Western Building Systems.
In a statement overnight the firm which has been operating for 35 years said it recognised that “this is a very important matter, not least for the pupils, parents and teachers of the schools involved”.
Until now, our integrity has never been questioned. Each of our Department of Education and Skills’ projects, both before and since the amendments to building regulations in 2014, were subjected to inspections during construction. Every time, each was certified as meeting compliance standards.
Western Building Systems has said it has not yet received all the reports on the affected schools.
We are interested in getting to the bottom of this and that starts with establishing the facts.
We are moving to intensify our engagement with the Department and other relevant bodies to better understand the issues which have now arisen and to work to resolve them.
The issue looks set to have a significant impact on the communities involved, with local TDs highlighting the difficulty in finding alternative accommodation.
Ruth Coppinger TD / TwitterThis will be nightmare for those in Tyrrelstown ETNS & St Luke’s getting to &from alternative accommodation. Questions remain how company built so many schools without proper regulation & oversight. I’ll be writing to Minister for answers immediately #dubw https://t.co/iSOeJiz2Rt
— Ruth Coppinger (@RuthCoppingerSP) October 23, 2018
While Fingal County Council has closed its community facilities on the site of the Tyrrelstown schools as a precaution.
https://www.facebook.com/fingalcoco/photos/a.292999020755814/1916779685044398/?type=3&theater
As a result of the closure of the campus Dublin’s county returning officer has moved its polling station for Friday’s Presidential election.
Anyone who would normally cast their ballot at Tyrrelstown Community Centre, will be able to vote at Le Cheile Secondary School, Hollystown Road, Tyrrelstown.
Polling stations are open between 7am to 10pm on 26 Friday, October 26th
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In 2008 1.7tonne was worth 650million,In 2023 2.3tonne is worth 157million.
Cost of living crisis must be hitting the drug dealers also these days.
@John Sleator: That’s a good one john
Street Value……I do wonder what streets the Guards are buying their drugs on……
@Shane Scanlan: asking for a friend?
@Shane Scanlan: “what street do you buy your drugs on? Because it’s not the same street I buy my drugs on!”
@Shane Scanlan: I don’t know but if they ever want a better deal then they should go somewhere else
@Shane Scanlan:at that price their probably selling around Temple bar
Pointless waste of money.
Note that there will be no follow up reporting – there never is – on the actual impact of things like this.
We need information.
How much do drugs polices cost taxpayers? (millions a year at least)
What impact do they have on availability of drugs? (85% of drugs aren’t intercepted, so the educated guess would be that the impact is negligible and very tempory at best – more likely the impact is closer to zero)
Relative to their cost, bearing in mind how badly we need money to eg pay carers, what is the point of these policies?
Not reducing supply. Supply is unaffected.
Not reducing deaths. We have twice the OD deaths of Portugal, which has twice our population.
So what’s the point?
I’m all for letting the lads shoot machine guns into the ocean, but surely that can’t justify the cost.
@Chris O’Brien: seeing as a kilo starts for about 2k from it’s point of origin the original value of the cocaine probably cost less than the surveillance alone.
@Butters: the real cost is the impact, not how much it costs to make them. It doesn’t cost much to make bullets, but they do a lot of harm. However, I would not assume to know the impact this haul would make or not make, I’m just thinking about the desperately addicted people here.
Great work by all involved, maybe tip of the iceberg but it keeps some of the filth off our streets.
@Eamon: Why are people so negative. A budget amount is given for all the law enforcement agencies for the purpose of detecting and seizing drugs entering Ireland. While I agree that drugs are imported every week into Ireland a seizure like this, no matter how small people think it is, should be celebrate. How many lives has this seizure saved ?. And I don’t mean deaths from drugs. There are serious OCG running riot in this country and importation of drugs is just 1 of their sources of income. They reek havoc every where, people smuggling for slavery, prostitution, extreme porn. Let’s celebrate 1 up for the good guys
On my way to Wexford for 2 x bags of strawberries…
@Paddy: Double dips ? On blotter paper?
@Brian Keelty: showing your age there I think lol
We should keep and it sell ourselves to pay off our debt. By bedtime tonight the Garda will estimate the haul to be now worth 600 trillion bajilloon euros.
Has the value of cocaine decreased since 2008? I’d have thought that it went up.
Great money in Drugs.. Surprised Michael and Paschal don’t have a tax tied to it….
Then they’d know the drug dealers
Probably bound for the UK and we done them a favour
By the time it’s cut up Irish dtyle6itll be 10 x that.
have your say