THE COMPTROLLER and Auditor General has been urged to conduct a value-for-money review of the planning and building unit in the Department of Education and Science.
The call has come from Senator Joe O'Toole who claims the operation of the section has become "increasingly illogical and dense''.
Mr O'Toole, a former general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, complains about the total lack of transparency in the workings of the unit in a letter to the comptroller.
In detailing the five-stage process in which schools seek new buildings or an extension, he says it is " utterly inefficient and seems calculated to create extraordinary confusion and frustration".
He also complains that new priority lists for building projects replace old ones with a total lack of transparency. "While the lists themselves are clear and simple to read and understand - it is the reasoning behind the list which is not understood by anyone except, apparently, the Minister. No one knows how the Minister decides which schools to add, which schools to drop and which schools to keep on the list. There are no published criteria."
He also claims: schools are unable to get clear and accurate information on the progress of their school building project; there is constant changing of prioritisation without any explanations; and the whole process seems shrouded in secrecy with no transparency.
In all, €600 million in public funding is being provided for the school-building programme this year.
Mr O'Toole says this "massive amount of taxpayers' money is not being used economically or efficiently".
