Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The section of the programme for Government which deals with education states that teachers and pupils are at the heart of the education system. Earlier this week, I visited Edmund Rice College in Blanchardstown. It has been waiting for a new school building for five years. It has now been told that the earliest it will be delivered will be February 2022. The reality is that construction takes far longer than that and the school believes the building will be delivered later that year, possibly in September 2022. If the Government can fast-track co-living developments, strategic housing developments, strategic infrastructure and prisons, why can it not fast-track schools? Why does it take so long for schools to be built? I appeal for the Government to look at the legislation and figure out whether we can get schools delivered quickly because there is serious pressure in Dublin 15 in the context of school places.

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