Across Dublin today parents, students and teachers are being left in abeyance in relation to information on the ongoing fire and safety checks in a number of schools. Ardgillan community college in Balbriggan had to close 18 classrooms and send its transition year students home for this week. St. Luke's national school in Tyrrelstown in west Dublin, which is in the Taoiseach's constituency, has been closed due to safety concerns. Again, students have been told to stay at home and enjoy an extended break. The safety concerns are understandable and that is the proper way to proceed but the difficulty for parents, students and teachers is that the information is being fed to them on a drip feed basis. They are not getting the information they need to be able to plan their lives and the lives of the students.

I understand the assessments will involve up to 30 schools and while these schools seem to have passed fire and safety checks issues are now arising with regard to the quality of the work done. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, provided information to various people this morning and I understand a group was meeting in the Department on addressing a number of the issues.

We want to be absolutely clear that we support the highest possible standards for health and safety within these schools. While causing huge disruption, this work is absolutely necessary. As we are midway through this week and as next week is the mid-term, what will parents face on Monday week when the students are due to return to the schools? The schools we know about are Ardgillan community college in Balbriggan and St. Luke's in Tyrrelstown. How many other schools will not be in a position to open their doors, or to open their doors fully, on Monday week after the mid-term? Are sufficient alternative accommodations being put in place for these students and when will this information be notified to parents and to the school communities? At what stage can we get a full assessment as to the health and safety status and the quality of the 30 or so school builds around Dublin - perhaps the Taoiseach could clarify the number - that are currently being assessed by the Department of Education and Skills?

I thank Deputy Calleary for raising this very important issue, which I know is of great concern to parents in various parts of Dublin at the moment. Unfortunately, up to 40 schools around the country, and not just in Dublin, could be affected. The safety of students and staff has to be our paramount consideration and I know that everyone in this House will agree. We are also deeply conscious of the disruption and inconvenience that is being caused to staff, children and parents as a result of some of these school closures. We very much appreciate people's understanding in that regard. I thank the school principals and the boards of management of the three schools affected at the moment. They are being regularly updated as inspection schedules are confirmed and as issues are identified. We appreciate their patience and understanding also. A dedicated contact person has been appointed within the Department who is the contact person for the school principals and the boards of management.

I appreciate that there is an information deficit. Deputy Calleary is right to bring that to our attention. There is an information deficit for a reason. The reason is we do not have all the information. The situation is still evolving and will evolve over the next two to three weeks.

Significant structural issues were discovered at Ardgillan community college by a structural engineer on 19 October. The issues relate to phase 1 of the school building that was built in 2009 by Western Building Systems under a design and build contract on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. Phase 2, which was built at a later date in 2015, is unaffected. Having considered the engineer's advice, and in the interest of health and safety of the students and staff at the school, the Dublin-Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board made the decision to close phase 1 of the school immediately. Structural assessments were also carried out yesterday on 23 October at Tyrrelstown Educate Together and the adjoining St. Luke's national school, which were built by the same company. Similar structural issues to those identified at Ardgillan were also identified in those schools. While no imminent danger was identified, both schools are being closed as a precautionary measure to allow for further detailed investigations. The target is to have interim accommodation in place for when pupils return to school after the mid-term break next week. We intend to use the next couple of days and the opportunity of the mid-term break to check the various schools involved. We will not know the scale of the problem, probably until the end of next week or the week after. We need to assess if this only affects schools built in that 2008-2014 period, or if it also affects schools built in more recent years. An examination of a school in Firhouse is happening at the moment to see if the structural flaws may also affect schools built in the last couple of years. The schools that have been closed are all three storey schools. We do not know yet if these structural flaws apply to single storey or second storey schools. It will take all of next week, and perhaps the week after, for us to establish the extent of this problem.

I thank the Taoiseach for the response, but I am struggling because this issue has been in the ether since 2015. The first reports were published in the Irish Examiner, and audits have been ongoing in a number of schools since then. We seem to be struggling to catch up with the issue this week. The Taoiseach has said there are other schools to be reviewed and he mentioned a school in Firhouse. Are these purely schools built by Western Building Systems or are they schools built by other contractors also going to be audited?

The Taoiseach said that a contact person has been appointed in the Department for all school principals. What information is flowing from the Department to the affected schools? Is every school to be audited aware that it is to be audited? Has the Department identified every school that may potentially have to take action? Has this information been communicated to school principals?

The Taoiseach mentioned a school in Firhouse. What plans are in place in the event of something happening or something being found? Will alternative accommodation be in place for schools given the accommodation pressures in the city? What plans are in place for the Department to communicate with parents, families and school principals?

The number of schools that need to be checked is 40. All of the principals in those schools have been informed. The principals will inform the parents in the normal way that schools inform parents. About 40 schools will be affected and they are all schools that were constructed by Western Building Systems.

A fire audit of other schools was announced last year.

In respect of this particular structural issue, as opposed to-----

The fire issue.

-----the fire issue, I am advised that 40 schools are involved in total. A separate issue has been going on for quite some time in respect of fire safety. This relates to structural issues. Obviously everything will be done to find alternative accommodation for schools but it is going to be difficult. It is not easy to find 25 classrooms. I know people have talked about sports clubs and so on but I do not know of any sports club that has 25 classrooms, so it is going to be difficult. Everything will be done to find interim and alternative accommodation nearby. In respect of Tyrrelstown Educate Together and St. Luke's national school, the secondary school has some vacant classrooms which it will make available. This is going to be difficult but the first thing we need to do is to put safety first and to make sure that children and staff are not put at risk. The second thing we need to do is to carry out the necessary structural investigations so that we can get a full idea or full understanding of the scale of the problem. Of course we also need to put together alternative accommodation if it is needed so that children's education is not adversely affected.