Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Incredible confusion and stress arises when a school goes from, say, stage 2b and is waiting on the final go-ahead for the commencement of work on a project. It is very difficult for traditional parish schools because the budget for new school buildings for large primary schools with 1,000 pupils, or secondary schools with even more pupils, is between €5 million and €10 million. The task of managing the budget falls to a voluntary part-time board and although I find the attitude of many officials positive there is enormous confusion in the Department, causing stress to school boards, principals and parents. We are still recovering from the construction collapse because lots of schools have lost various technical teams or had to replace them. The Department, particularly the Minister's own office, does not seem to be able to address these issues.

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