Schools in ‘deplorable’ state ofrepair need work carried out

EAST Londonderry MLA Gregory Campbell asked the Education Minister on Monday if she intended in the last days of her office to look at the maintenance back-log that exists in a number of schools in his constituency, some of which he said were in a “deplorable state of repair.”

By The Newsroom

Published 24th Mar 2011, 14:51 BST

Speaking at Stormont on Monday the DUP MLA asked: “Will the Minister, in her last few days in office, look at the maintenance backlog that exists in a number of schools in my East Londonderry constituency to determine whether matters can be addressed quickly there?”

He added: “In recent years, some of the schools have been in a deplorable state of repair.”

Education Minister Caitríona Ruane replied: “I will look at all the schools right across the North of Ireland to

make sure that we re-prioritise the maintenance backlog. I have already explained the criteria that we will use.”

Last summer it was revealed almost £50m of schools’ maintenance work was back-logged in the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) area including urgent work to address health and safety issues on the schools’ estate.

At July 2010 the total figure across Northern Ireland was £286,903,538 with £46,410,758 in repairs required across WELB.