Solidarity TD Mick Barry has this morning called on Minister Richard Bruton and the state to step in to guarantee the jobs of workers and the delivery of schools which have been affected by the collapse of Carillion and subsequently the liquidation of Sammon.

He said that there now must be major concerns over not just the completion of the schools by the consortium of Carillion, and the Dutch Infrastructure Fund, but also their ability to fulfil their 25 year contract for the provision of maintenance in the schools. 

Mick Barry TD said "When I raised this issue in the Dáil in January, Junior Minister Patrick O' Donovan dismissively batted away my concerns saying that Ministers Bruton and Donohue were 'very confident' that the schools would still be delivered. They have certainly changed their tune now, the minister must guarantee the delivery of all the schools in this project rather than the ones 'nearest completion' as he said this morning.

"Hundreds of workers across the country are now faced with unemployment from Sammon, and potentially hundreds more through contractors who have been affected by the collapse. The government previously said that they had only paid €4m of the €100m contract over to the consortium, they should now use these funds to guarantee the workers their jobs and wages, they shouldn't be out of pocket because of the reckless actions of a major corporation. 

"The government's ideological commitment to the privatisation and outsourcing of services must now be seriously reviewed. The model has failed to deliver. We previously saw this model fail in O'Devaney Gardens. But more recently we have seen the result of outsourcing fail in the cervical cancer screening programme, and the failure of the private sector to deliver social and affordable housing. 

"This is a failed ideology which doesn't deliver for people across the country. There should be an alternative model introduced which doesn't rely on the markets and profiteers to deliver vital infrastructure and services, for example this could involve the creation of a state owned construction company to deliver schools, housing and other public utilities."