Loreto in limbo: contingency plan in case September deadline missed
CONTINGENCY plans are being put in place at the Loreto in case the new school cannot open in September.
The fate of the new state of the art school, which is largely completed, hangs in limbo following the collapse of the UK construction company Carillion.
Despite the fact that Minister for Education Richard Bruton said that the collapse of Carillion wouldn’t jeopardise the handover of the school there are fears that the school won’t be open in September forcing students to remain in the old building.
Principal Billy O’Shea said that the lack of information is particularly worrying.
‘When this all happened in mid-January we were assured that it would take three or four weeks to sort out – that is what the Taoiseach said in the Dáil – and now we are three months into it and nothing.
‘While I understand that negotiations are ongoing and these things can take time, there are obviously concerns on the ground here in Wexford about the school and the new term.
‘The building is virtually ready to go, if work were to recommence on site over the summer it would be ready for the start of the new school year, but nothing is happening on site now. So yes, we are all worried.
‘Contingency planning is underway, but our board of management is very strongly of the view that if contingency plans were to come into effect it would be an appalling, appalling situation to be in.’
Mr O’Shea said it makes no sense to have students being educated in prefabs when the new school is there.
‘It would be an appalling indictment on the whole process if we ended up in temporary accommodation when we have a brand new building there. Our focus now is on the next few weeks and getting into the school for the next term.
‘We understand that a lot of work is going on in the background, but promises need to be delivered upon now.’
Wexford TD Brendan Howlin raised the issue of Loreto Wexford in the Dáil at the end of April.
Speaking to Minister Bruton he said: ‘I still do not have a clear horizon on when the completed Loreto secondary school in Wexford will be handed over. It is ready. It had actually gone through a deep clean before formal handover. It is now lying idle.’
He said the school had intended to expand its range of teachers to facilitate more subject at the new premises. He said that would be impossible if the new building wasn’t open in the autumn.
Minister Bruton said the responsibility lies with the contracting party to complete the schools and hand them over.
‘In this case that party is now the Dutch Infrastructure Fund, DIF. The State will not be making payments until that handover has occurred. It is DIF that is undertaking the tender for the completion of those works, not the State.’
In a statement from the Department of Education they said they are working towards having the affected schools open by September.
‘as a result of the Carillion collapse and Sammon examinership, the construction and facilities management contracts relating to the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project were terminated and are now being retendered.
‘The tender process in this respect is being undertaken by infrastructure fund manager Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF) on behalf of the PPP Company, Inspired Spaces.
‘Based on the timeline for tender evaluation, negotiation and appointment of the replacement contractors, DIF has targeted and is working towards having all six buildings operational for the beginning of the coming school year,’ said the statement.
‘In parallel to DIF’s work in putting in place arrangements to complete the construction and certification of the buildings, the Department continues to engage with the relevant school authorities in relation to contingency plans.’
However it said that they are focused on ensuring delivery of the new schools as soon as possible so that the contingency measures won’t have to be introduced.