Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I know exactly what the Minister said on 12 February. That is not the issue. The issue is that a document was posted on the Department's website some days in advance of that date, announcing that 41 major school building projects would proceed to tender and construction. Underneath that was the sentence "Insert link here once list is cleared!!!"

Two schools were added to the list. What were they and why were they put on the list? It is clear to schools around the country that politicisation of the schools building programme is at the centre of all decisions this Minister and his predecessors have got away with for the past ten years. Schools are decided not on the basis of priority, as the Minister suggests, but on votes and a cynical attempt by the Minister to use this as a slush fund for Fianna Fáil. We need transparency. The Minister has been exposed because the official advice on his Department's website 24 hours before 12 February cited 41 major school projects but the actual announcement was for 43 schools. Politics gets in the way of all decisions the Minister takes in respect of this list.

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