Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom an Dáil a chur ar athló chun déileáil leis an ábhar rí-thabhachtach seo, namely, the inexplicable failure of the Department of Education and Skills to spend €331 million, or half this year's capital budget for school building, at a time when demand for school places and parental choice for both secular and multi-denominational education and gaelscoileanna is rising, as evidenced by the presence of parents and children from Portobello Educate Together start-up group outside the gates of Leinster House yesterday, and with the INTO estimating that 400 schools will be required over the next ten years to cater for 100,000 additional pupils; and the urgent need for the Government to implement Sinn Féin's proposal for the construction and delivery of 125 new schools, which by creating jobs at both the construction phase and in the delivery of education, would immediately act as a stimulus for the domestic economy and contribute to the achievement of a smart economy in the long term.

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