State response to school safety concerns too slow and secretive

The government’s reluctance to bring building issues to light means it still has plenty of questions to answer

Ardgillan Community College in Balbriggan in Co Dublin, which was closed after structural issues emerged Pic: Fergal Phillips

Leo Varadkar appeared as concerned as the rest of us when he addressed the media in front of scaffolding at Tyrrelstown Educate Together, which was shut down to much shock last week as a result of safety concerns.

“The truth is, we don’t have all the answers,” the Taoiseach said. “This is a big problem, we don’t know the scale of it yet, but we know we will fix it.”

But his comments ...