Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of reasons for delays. For example, the NZEB regulations were introduced in 2017, which meant many school projects in the 2016-2021 capital programme had to be revised. A number in my own constituency had to go back through the process to ensure the designs met the NZEB provisions. The major question among schools and students themselves relates to environmental standards. When I go to schools that are more than 100 years old, the students ask me how they can be made more environmentally sound and habitable. They ask why they do not have solar panels and why we are not retrofitting them. These are legitimate questions and young people are challenging us on them. It is difficult for students in older schools to watch new schools coming down the line. It raises questions of fairness. There are many competing pressures on the budget and investing to make schools sustainable. There is also the ongoing demographic challenge of increases in population. One can list the reasons. It was not just NZEB. Schools might not have received fire compliance certificates or other issues may have arisen along the way. If the Deputy feels there are schools that are not being progressed properly, I would be very interested to hear about it.

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