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

Although the capital budget for schools has increased by €83 million for 2019, which we welcome, the information provided by the Department of Education and Skills in the Revised Estimates for expenditure shows that, last year, with €83 million less, 18,900 school places were replaced or provided, whereas the Department is forecasting that 18,850 places will be replaced or provided this year. What this means in practice is that, for €83 million more, it gets less bang for its buck. The question seeks to find out the explanation for that.

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