A British construction company contracted to build five schools under the Government's public-private partnership scheme is being investigated by the UK department of education after school principals in northern England accused it of corner-cutting and poor workmanship.
Head teachers at 20 schools in Kirklees, west Yorkshire, have presented schools minister Mr David Milliband with a litany of grievances against Jarvis plc, which has built one school in the Republic and is close to finishing another four in a €83 million public-private partnership project.
Teachers in Kirklees accuse Jarvis of shoddiness and of routinely failing to meet deadlines.
Ms Christine Spencer, head teacher at Salendine Nook High School, said the company's workers were sloppy and had persistently brushed aside complaints. "Jarvis has no understanding of the sort of demands which are placed on a modern school. All sorts of things have been going wrong. The workmanship just isn't very good. The company doesn't appreciate that these are buildings which are to be used by children and have to stand up to a fair amount of punishment."
Jarvis spokesman Mr Patrick Gardiner admitted work at Kirklees had been "rushed" but said the company's priority was to complete the schools by the start of the academic year.
UK education inspectors are expected to present their findings within a month.
The Kirklees controversy is just the latest to embroil Jarvis. Last January the firm came under scrutiny when the roof collapsed in a primary school it had built in the Glasgow suburb of east Rentfrewshire. Jarvis is suing the contract engineer who designed the building, claiming his miscalculations made the structure unsafe.
In May, Jarvis was forced to defend its safety record after a train derailed at Potters Bar in London, killing seven. The accident occurred along a stretch of track that Jarvis was contracted to maintain. Jarvis denied allegations by Railtrack, the authority responsible for the upkeep of Britain's railways, that it had been alerted to possible track defects days before the tragedy.
The Department of Education last night insisted it had no safety concerns for the five schools Jarvis is contracted to build at Tubbercurry, Co Sligo; Dunmanway, Co Cork; Clones, Co Monaghan; Ballincollig, Co Cork; and Shannon. Mr David Gordon, head of the Department's public-private partnership unit, said Jarvis had been rigorously scrutinised during a competitive tender process. One of the schools, St Attractas in Tubbercurry, was already open, and the other four would be finished ahead of schedule.
The principal of Ballincollig community school, Mr Sean Slowey, said the company's work was of the highest standard.
"We're extremely happy with them. They have been professional and flexible and every time we asked them to change something they were only too happy to do it."
The Teachers Union of Ireland said it was not aware of the allegations against Jarvis and did not object in principal to private companies building schools.
