Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach talked about what is right for the economy. What we did in the Lemass era 50 years ago, in investing in education, is the right thing to do at every level, including preschool, special, primary, secondary, third level and further education, and apprenticeships and skills. I share the Taoiseach's ambition to have the best education system by 2026 but we have a long way to go. I am looking for the Taoiseach's views on some of the areas we particularly need to look at. He mentioned teachers. We have a crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers at every level, including at the preschool level. Part of that is down to the pay parity issue. I would like the Taoiseach's views on how we will address that. Addressing inequalities is important, as is looking at how we can support parents in developing the capitation grant.

My final question is about capital build projects.

There are 341 such projects at present and some of them have been on the list for 17 years, including one in Monasterevin in my constituency. There seems to be an inordinate delay in actually delivering schools. Included on that list are 30 special schools. I certainly feel that we need to do more. That is leading to the problem of a proliferation of prefabs around our schools. I thank the Taoiseach.