Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the capital budget, for the past two years there has been an underspend and a roll-over. Is there a blockage in the system or is there a particular reason for this? Significant funding is going into the capital programme. I would be the first to say that a lot of work is being done in the form of new school buildings, replacement of prefabs, etc. We can see that over the past three years the figures for replacement of prefabs show that their numbers have decreased, which is a positive step. Significant funding has been put into the capital programme to meet the increased number of students anticipated over the next couple of years. Is there a particular reason for the underspend in the past two years? If there is a blockage in the system, maybe the Minister could tell us what it is?

What is the status of the PPPs in which the Department is involved? Will they be more prevalent in coming years?