Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning during Question Time the Minister made it clear that the minor works grant would be paid this year but it would not be paid in 2018. That is absolutely unacceptable as schools are reliant on it. It is no longer a grant and it never was such a grant; it should never have been called a grant. This concerns moneys vital to the running of schools. I ask the Taoiseach and his Government to make it clear that these moneys should be available on a statutory basis to all schools. In only one school year of 2012 to 2013 since the scheme's introduction in 1997 was no money made available to schools. Schools rely on this and they cannot exist without it.

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