Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona ar gach duine. Mar a dúirt an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Calleary, is Seachtain na Gaeilge é fosta. Táim ag cur ceiste faoi fhadhb atá sa tír agus ag labhairt faoi na fadhbanna i mo chontae féin maidir le scoileanna a athchóiriú agus síneadh a chur le scoileanna agus faoi scoileanna úra atá de dhíth. Táim ag labhairt faoi Ghaelscoil Na gCeithre Máistrí i mbaile Dhún na nGall, atá ag fanacht le 24 bliain anois. Tá an scoil lonnaithe i bhfoirgneamh sealadach. Níl sé sin ceart do na páistí, do na tuismitheoirí ná do na daoine atá ag obair inti, is iad sin, na múinteoirí, na special needs assistants agus foireann uilig na scoile. Tá an scoil ag fanacht ar an solas glas. Tá achan rud críochnaithe. Tá na tenders istigh. Tá an próiseas déanta ach tá an scoil ag fanacht ar an solas glas.

I am glad the Minister of State is here. I am not going to do the usual "where is the Minister?". I am glad the Minister of State is here because this issue is relevant to her constituency. There is a major issue with the Department of Education regarding capital funding. My major concern is that if we stall 58 to 60 of the projects that are ready to go to tender or ready to go to construction, it will stall the system, planning will run out and we will end up with a situation where redesign will have to happen and it will cost more in the long run.

I ask the Government to use common sense here. We seem to have money for everything when we hit a speed bump along the road but even back in 2011, 2012 and 2013, when the country was in a worse situation than it had ever been in the past 50 years, we protected the education budget and allowed buildings to go ahead. We need sustainability within the Department because contractors need sustainability. Young construction workers in Galway and Donegal are making decisions. They might decide to go to Australia if we do not have long-term security in building.

My message today is quite clear. We need to re-instill confidence within the system with regard to schools like Four Masters High School that is ready to sign contracts, Moville Community College that was ready to sign documents three weeks ago, and St. Eunan's College in Letterkenny that was ready to go to tender to ensure these projects go ahead. There is a multi-annual budget. There is a figure of €860 million for the year. I accept there has been inflation and schools like Scoil Íosagáin in Buncrana have suffered because the contractor who awarded the contract was unable to take it on because of escalating costs. This happens but they had to go back for planning. I accept there has been a lot of disruption within the system and I know Department officials in Tullamore are working within major constraints but we need collectively as parliamentarians and as a Government to go to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to get additional moneys because, even with small-scale projects, there has been a lot of stalling. I know the Minister of State will use her own networks in her party to ensure we get these projects moving again because it is having a very negative impact on many schools.

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