When Carillion collapsed in January five schools and one college of further education were left in real uncertainty. Two of the schools are in my constituency of Wicklow. The Minister for Education and Skills came into the House and informed it that there would be no delays whatsoever in resolving the issue, other than perhaps a week or two. However, it is now March and there is still total uncertainty. Last week the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, briefed the principals of the schools as well as some Deputies, and outlined the public tendering process that is in place. The closing date for tenders is 5 April. It is now anticipated that work will not recommence on those schools until late June and possibly July. Two of the schools are complete but given the timeframe outlined it is a reasonable expectation that they will remain completely closed until September at the earliest.

I thank the Deputy. His time is up.

Why will the Government not intervene in this sad saga and will there be a complete review of the use of public private partnerships for essential public works such as schools?

Local knowledge on the Front Bench indicates that Coláiste Ráithín, which is one of the schools in Wicklow, should be ready by early summer. Efforts are being made to make sure the schools get the supports they need given what has happened in terms of financial uncertainty. The best course of action would probably be for the Deputy to table a parliamentary question to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, to get an accurate response.