Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not for one minute underestimate the enthusiasm of the school or the good work it does every day with its students and the wider school community. Confirmation of that and of the excellence of the delivery there every day are represented by the determination of the Department to deliver on this project. I have no issue, at an appropriate time, with taking the opportunity to visit the school.

As I said, a new planning application has been submitted on the school. I want to be fair also when it comes to the constraints we have on funding but that is part of an ambitious programme of delivery that the Department has across the country. We have been impacted by a variety of different issues, including the war in Ukraine and the cost of materials. We must also make provision for more than 15,000 students from Ukraine and accelerate special educational needs provision. These are all things that everybody wanted us to do.

We are in positive discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and I am confident that those discussions will come to a positive conclusion in as fast a time as possible. I want to confirm again that this project, along with other projects, will proceed. We await the additional funding for same.

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