Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will appreciate that there is huge pressure on the education capital budget because we have to accommodate 15,000 new school places every year as well as providing 5,000 necessary replacements. That leaves resources constrained. It means that we must decide, relatively late on, what will be available for the summer works scheme. Clearly, we try to maximise the available money but half of the schools in the country make an application for this scheme. It is a very strongly supported scheme and we have to try to be discerning in those projects that are supported to ensure that the highest priority cases get the go ahead. That said, there will be adequate time to deal with the work involved. By waiting until this point in the year, we ensure that we get as much as possible made available to schools.

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