Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The national school in my local area is in a DEIS programme. The school has had five or six prefabs for the past eight to ten years. It has been told it will not be allocated money for a new building for up to the next eight years. However, it was told in the previous week that planning permission would be going up to indicate that the building to proceed. I recognise the Minister cannot answer that specific question because I have not told her the name of the school but, in the general case of DEIS schools in poorer areas, which take in pupils whose needs are greater than in other areas, why is a project of this nature not being dealt with in a separate way? I am anxious to know why the €35.5 million could not have been allocated to schools which need this money now rather than in five or six years time.