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

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I know it is of significant concern. I have to put my cards on the table because we are working to very constrained capital budgets and have been through a period of very rapid population growth, which is very good fortune for us in one sense. We have to provide approximately 12,000 to 15,000 new places and 5,000 replacement places every year. Those demands are putting the Department to the pin of its collar to ensure there are places for children when they turn up in September. This year, the Department will deliver almost 14,000 new places and 5,000 additional replacement places That has to be prioritised, which has put a squeeze on some other funding areas, as the Deputy will understand, such as emergency grants, summer works and minor works. The Deputy made the point that it would be great if the minor works grant were mandatory but I have to live within the capital framework provided and the Deputy knows the background to that. Over the past eight years, the overall capital programme has been cut to one third of what it was at its peak. We are living in a very financially constrained period. Although I acknowledge the minor works grant is an important element of funding, we are continuing to review our work programme both this year and next in terms of meeting the demands of the new schools we have to build and places we have to provide. Since 2011, we have provided 120,000 new school places and 200 new schools, and that is being done in accordance with a very strict system whereby it is only when an area can show a shortage of school places that we commit to build, as the Acting Chairman, Deputy O'Rourke, knows. That is a constraining factor.

We are continuing to review our funding position but I cannot give a commitment as to when we will be in a position to make a decision on the issue. I am very conscious of the concern expressed by the Deputy and many others on all sides of the House. I am working with the Department to seek a solution.

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