Up to 40 schools built in the last decade are at risk of closure as the Department of Education widens its investigation into the structural safety of work done by a single contractor.

Two primary schools in west Dublin - Tyrrelstown Educate Together and St Luke's National School - are closed from today following structural checks, forcing 1,200 pupils to stay at home.

Tyrrelstown Community Centre, which is on the same campus as the two primary schools, is also closing temporarily.

Ardgillan Community College, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, has already shut 18 classrooms since Monday because of "significant structural issues" of a similar nature as those identified in those two primary schools.

The problems at Ardgillan came to light during remediation works being carried out on foot of a programme of fire safety assessment at 55 schools.

The three schools were among those built by Co Tyrone-based Western Building Systems (WBS) between 2009-13.

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After Ardgillan, the Department of Education ordered structural checks on 30 WBS schools. It was those checks yesterday that led to the decision to close the two primary schools, as well as an extension of checks to 40 schools.

Meanwhile, WBS defended its record, stating it wanted to "get to the bottom of this" and resolve any issues.

The "significant structural issues" discovered during last Friday's inspection in Ardgillan, relate to the placing of ties between the outer block work and the inner timber frame.

It is understood that the issues identified in Tyrrelstown are similar to those identified in Ardgillan. The Department of Education stated that the closure of the two schools followed "advice from a consultant structural engineer". The statement added that "while not identifying any imminent danger, the schools closed to allow for further investigations. The decision to close was taken and in consultation with the school authorities".

Educate Together said that "for safety reasons, the Tyrrelstown ETNS building cannot be occupied whilst remedial works are being carried out".

Work is under way to find interim accommodation for when the 1,200 pupils return after the mid-term break. After yesterday's developments, Education Minister Joe McHugh told the Dáil that the programme of structural checks was being extended to 40 WBS schools, covering the period up to 2018.

The 30 WBS schools covered in the initial structural assessment programme were built between 2009-13, prior to the introduction of more stringent building regulations in 2014.

WBS stated last night that it placed "considerable emphasis on delivering high-quality work on each of our projects, always ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. These include projects which had met the Department of Education's compliance standards. "Until now, our integrity has never been questioned. Each of our Department of Education and Skills' projects, both before and since the amendments to building regulations in 2014, were subjected to inspections during construction. Every time, each was certified as meeting compliance standards."

WBS said it was "interested in getting to the bottom of this and that starts with establishing the facts. We are moving to intensify our engagement with the department and other relevant bodies to better understand the issues which have now arisen and to work to resolve them".

WBS said it had "received some rather than all of the individual school fire audit reports. Of those we have received, we have responded with two exceptions which have only recently been issued to us. We are writing to the Minister for Education and Skills on the matter and remain available to meet with him and his officials".

Irish Independent