THE MINISTER for Education is holding up work on 15 school building projects on which €4.6 million in architects’ fees has already been spent, Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes said yesterday.
“These school projects are critical with millions and millions spent already and with builders ready to begin but Batt O’Keeffe won’t give them the green light,” said Mr Hayes.
“The Budget clearly illustrated that a new era of vicious cutbacks are upon us but the refusal of the Minister to give the go-ahead to these projects when everything is ready to begin defies comprehension. A fortune has been spent on architect and design fees – €4.6 million – and there is a serious concern that spending this vast amount for cash may be for nothing,” said Mr Hayes.
He added that the longer it took for building work to begin, the more likely costs were set to increase and existing architectural designs would need to be changed.
“In all 15 cases the schools have completed the lengthy ‘staged’ process employed by the department over many years and the only decision left to take is for the Minister to allow the schools to move to construction stage. The schools obtained approval for their plans from departmental officials, have planning permission, have builders selected for the works and have spent a fortune on design and architecture,” said Mr Hayes.
He added that this was yet another example of Government wastage and inefficiency.
“A staggering 13.5 per cent is spent on design fees so we can expect almost €80 million of next year’s €581 million school building programme to be depleted in the same way. It’s time to renegotiate the 13.5 per cent fee that was agreed years ago when the property market was booming.”
Mr Hayes said that one school, Dún Laoghaire Senior College, had spent more than €1.3 million on design while others had spent well over €250,000, but all of it could go down the drain if the Minister did not act.
“The last week has seen children forced to pay the price for Fianna Fáil incompetence by being targeted for severe cutbacks. Education is suffering and unless these projects are immediately green-lighted it will needlessly suffer further,” he said.
