Children to return to school buildings after safety works completed

Two west Dublin primary schools are making plans for the return of children to their original classrooms after confirmation today that precautionary works to address structural safety concerns at the schools have been completed.

However, around 500 children are likely to continue to be bussed to alternative accommodation until after the Christmas break.

These are pupils at Tyrrelstown Educate Together.

At St Luke’s National School in Tyrrelstown, around 120 children continue to walk to alternative accommodation daily but its hoped they will be able to return to their own classrooms soon.

Similar works at a third Dublin primary school, Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada in Lucan, have already been completed, and pupils have returned to their classrooms.

Internal walls at the schools had to be bolstered with scaffolding and temporary timber structures after engineers working for the Department of Education identified structural defects in their original construction.

While work to make the ground floors accessible was carried out more than a month ago, work on second and third storeys was only completed last week.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education has said it is likely to be next summer before deeper structural works - aimed at addressing structural defects that were discovered - are carried out.

Until then, scaffolding and temporary timber structures will remain in place at the three west Dublin schools, and external fencing blocking off external walls will remain in place in a further 19 schools around the country.

Precautionary safety measures were taken at 22 schools after a programme of structural assessments was carried out on schools built by construction company Western Building Systems.

Education Minister Joe McHugh said that the next phase of the Department's work to address structural issues was now being planned.

He said the Department's aim was to carry out this work at times, such as the summer holiday period, when schools are closed.

He said his department would also be progressing a planned independent review of the Design and Build programme.