A company that built 42 schools, all of which have been found to have structural defects, has been awarded a €14 million contract to build a new ward at University Hospital Limerick.
Last October serious structural flaws were uncovered at 23 schools built by the Tyrone-based company.Last week the Department of Education announced that similar structural defects had been discovered during more thorough investigations over the summer in the remaining 17 school buildings constructed by the company in recent years.
University Hospital Limerick says that following a public procurement process by the HSE, the successful bidder was Western Building Systems. The hospital says the contract is now "underway and progressing well through the design development process".The Department of Education is pursuing legal action against Western Building Systems for the cost of both the temporary and long-term remediation of the defects discovered at the schools the company built.