€14 Million Public Funds Awarded To Firm Sued By Education Dept.

Western Building Systems, latter a company that built 42 schools, many of which have been found to have structural defects, has been awarded the contract to build a new ward block at the constantly over crowed University Hospital Limerick, which serves patients in the North Tipperary region.

RTE journalist Emma O’Kelly reports that the Health Service Executive (HSE), together with University Hospital Limerick, have both confirmed that, in May 2019 last, it awarded a contract for a new 60 bed ward block to Western Building Systems, at a cost of some €14 million, excluding VAT.

However, of the 42 schools previously built by this company; serious structural flaws, including breaches of fire safety had previously been uncovered at 23 of the school buildings since late last year. Only last week the Department of Education announced that similar structural defects had now been discovered during more recent investigations at a further 17 school buildings constructed by this company.

RTE’s reports that University Hospital Limerick confirms that this contract is now “under way and progressing well through the design development process”, with the essential new ward block expected to be completed by late 2020.

RTE understands that the Department of Education is presently pursuing legal action against Western Building Systems for the cost of remedying and the reversing of both the temporary and long-term building defects, which were discovered at the schools constructed by the company and which are expected to run into millions of Euro.