Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The question is not whether the Minister is facing the various challenges he has listed but whether he is facing the challenge the Department set itself by saying that these projects would go to construction in certain years and that has not happened in many cases. This is a fantasy list and it dates back three years. The pre-election capital plan is in the realms of even greater fantasy because very few of those projects have been built. Does the Minister have enough money to build what he said he would build? I did not ask whether he is meeting the demand or facing the challenges. We know and accept that. Does he have enough money? Is he going to his Cabinet colleagues and the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform to ask for the money? I suspect that if the Department's building unit were a private company he would be seeking an examinership procedure because he has entered into so many commitments for which it does not have the money. The Department's commitment to building these schools in a particular year has not been complied with. The Minister needs to go back to the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, to ask for a substantial increase in funding.

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