The government's finalised a plan to repair structural issues found at 22 schools built by Western Building Systems.

The defects, identified in October last year, led to precautionary measures being brought in for the safety of staff and students at the schools.

The works to repair the issues are expected to begin in the summer.

In a statement, the Minister for Education Joe McHugh said safety has been the Government’s “number one priority” since the defects were identified.

“We are now able to outline when affected schools will have a contractor on site and we are also giving schools an explanation of what the work will entail,” he said.

“I am glad that we are now able to move into this phase of ensuring a permanent fix for these buildings.”

Individual schools will meet with department officials in the coming days to discuss the plans.

“We have been clear from the start about the importance of keeping schools up to date in response to concerns about structural issues and providing them with as much clear information from the outset,” said Minister McHugh.

“The briefings are a chance for the Department to engage with school authorities, to share details of the remediation programme and the timetabling for the works which aims to make the most of the holidays.”

He said structural investigations will be carried out at 17 other schools built by company over the summer.