Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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It has been reported in the newspapers that the Minister has agreed to buy the greyhound track at Harold's Cross for approximately €23 million, or perhaps up to €28 million. I do not expect the Minister to talk about individual transactions, although if he can, all the better, because it is a lot of money. I want to make clear that we support the provision of schools and we understand the predicament in which the Minister finds himself with regard to finding sites for schools. How much of the capital budget is being eaten into by land costs? This seems a massive amount of money, and while I understand the Department is forced to pay such an amount in that part of Dublin, is this having an impact on the building of schools? Is the Department looking at the whole issue of land costs and what can be done about it? There is also the question of what needs to be done beyond the Department. I do not think it is sustainable that sites are bought for that amount of money because it eats into the Department's budget for building schools.