Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be the first to acknowledge there has been increased funding in this area and that we are seeing a number of new schools coming on stream, although obviously, not at a quick enough pace to address the under-funding of capital projects down through the years.

On the issue of long-term planning, which I touched on in committee while the Minister was present, I do not believe the five-year plan is adequate as it is too short term. When we are planning for demographic change, we can tell what the population trends and the needs will be ten years down the line. I raised the possibility of not just developing a five-year plan but of looking at five, ten, 15 and 20-year plans for capital projects in education.

At the committee, the Minister, Deputy O'Sullivan, said the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government was due to bring forward some proposals around the planning process. As she is aware, one of the biggest issues for school building programmes is the planning aspect and the delays in that. Can the Minister give us a further update on that?

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