Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I would love to be able to do so. If Deputy Ryan can bend the arm of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, I will certainly do so. The decision to prioritise has been difficult. At least I have been up front in telling those affected. Our biggest necessity is to provide additional capacity in the system to allow for the demographical changes. However, that has not stopped us taking action in some cases where there is a clear need. I refer to Loughrea where the physical fabric of the existing school was so decrepit that it was not worth repairing. Existing schools will benefit this year from 28 major projects under the stimulus package. I am not certain if this affects some of the schools in Deputy Ryan's Dublin North constituency or in Fingal. Once the new schools provide capacity it will enable us to use the capital programme to continue to upgrade existing schools.