Education Department spent €322m upgrading 40 schools that cost €150m to build
The Department of Education has spent € 332 million so far fixing defects and upgrading 40 schools that cost € 150 million to build.
A confidential report prepared for the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) – obtained by Extra.ie – warns that the department expects to be liable for some remediation costs even if its legal action against the developer is successful.
The remediation works were carried out on the schools built by Western Building Systems (WBS) through a fast-tracked process in a bid to meet surging student demand.
The Department of Education has spent € 332 million so far fixing defects and upgrading 40 schools that cost € 150 million to build. Pic: Getty Images
The schools were built by the Co. Tyrone-based company between 2008 and 2018 under the ‘Design and Build’ programme. WBS was the only contractor used under the scheme found by the department to have ‘significant quality issues’.
Under the programme, a single contractor is responsible for the design and construction of the school.
But the State’s legal team have advised that although the trial ‘went well’ and they ‘anticipate damages awarded to the State to be significant’, they warn it ‘may not be 100% recovery of what was claimed due to some element of responsibility likely to be found in relation to the role of the department and/or its agents’.
The department’s lead High Court action, relating to Ardgillan Community College in north Dublin, commenced in January 2022 and is awaiting judgement. Pic: Garrett White/Collins
Extra.ie understands that the department signed off on the schools before taking ownership of them.
The report, marked ‘confidential – legal privilege’, was prepared by the department’s secretary-general, Bernie McNally, and says the action is the largest suite of litigation taken by the State in this area.
The department’s lead High Court action, relating to Ardgillan Community College in north Dublin, commenced in January 2022 and is awaiting judgement.
The Department of Education has spent € 332 million so far fixing defects and upgrading 40 schools that cost € 150 million to build. Pic Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
The department issued writs for 34 High Court cases, but the Ardgillan case is likely to act as a test case that will guide how it proceeds with the other 33 cases. The department’s ultimate claim in the Ardgillan trial was €10.3million (ex VAT).
However, the briefing document states the State may not receive 100% of the costs as it may have to assume some responsibility.
The document notes that, on the advice of Attorney General Rossa Fanning, the department is ‘continuing to pursue mediation alongside the main litigation as a central part of its overall legal strategy’.
Attorney General Rossa Fanning. Pic: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
It notes that € 255 million, excluding VAT, has been spent on remediation, with another € 77 million spent on improvements and upgrades beyond the remediation of defects.
The High Court was told in 2022 that the WBS contract was worth € 150 million. Accounting for Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation at 28% since 2008, this contract would equate to € 192.6 million now.
Works began in 2018, and construction cost inflation has significantly outpaced the CPI.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman, Eoin Ó Broin, was refused updated figures in a series of Parliamentary Questions. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins
A department official disclosed during High Court proceedings in 2022 that it is expected to be around € 400 million. But sources told Extra.ie this is ‘shy’ of what the final bill will be.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman, Eoin Ó Broin was refused updated figures in a series of Parliamentary Questions to Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton and Freedom of Information requests for an update on expected remediation costs.
He told Extra.ie the decision on who should pay remediation costs is a matter for the courts, but ‘the public has a right to know how much money has been spent to date. I do not accept the figure can’t be released while the court case is ongoing’.
He is ‘particularly concerned’ that insiders told him the figure released by the department is just a fraction of what the total bill will be.
‘We know hundreds of millions has already been spent, and even that could be an underestimation,’ he said. ‘Given the scale of the costs involved, Government must come clean on the costs and must also set out what reforms they have put in place to ensure this kind of defects scandal can never happen again.’
The document states ‘remediation of this nature is inherently complex and costly, as defects are often concealed within the building fabric and can only be fully identified through extensive opening-up works’.
Mediation is ongoing with WBS and other contractors. Defects were first identified during fire safety investigations in 2016 before more structural failures were uncovered during opening-up works in October 2018.
Part of the school, built in 2009, was shut down following the detection of ‘significant structural issues’. A department spokesman said it ‘initiated High Court proceedings in relation to 40 schools built by’ WBS and ‘it would not be appropriate to comment further given cases are currently before the courts’.
A WBS spokesman echoed this, adding: ‘We can say that the 40 schools built by the Department of Education and Skills by WBS and its contractors between 2003 and 2020 were all approved one by one and taken over by the department.’
