Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Two weeks ago, news broke that building has been paused on 58 school construction projects around the country, including four urgent school construction projects in my own constituency of Dublin Bay South, two in Harold's Cross and two in Sandymount. All four are Educate Together schools whose campuses I have recently visited. I am getting so much correspondence from parents and staff in those schools who are deeply concerned at the halting of these projects. These are schools that are growing exponentially and that require additional space. This is also true of many of the other schools on the list.

I have not yet received nor have we seen the complete list of schools that apparently are not to be constructed now. We have not been given any indication from Government as to why this pause has happened. I have written to the Minister for Education and tabled parliamentary questions on the matter. Just ten minutes ago I received a response from the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform indicating that there are no plans in place to fund the resumption of these projects. This is causing real alarm in my constituency, in the four Educate Together schools affected in Sandymount and Harold's Cross, as well as across the country. Can the Taoiseach throw some light on what has happened here and when the building will resume?

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