Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Over the past five years alone, 1,300 projects have been progressed. These are new schools, large-scale projects, additional accommodation projects and emergency works projects. There have been 1,300 projects over the past five years. That is €6 billion that is being spent right across the country. Looking at the work that has been done, I compliment the work of the building unit and the team in the Department because we and they are a team that can deliver a significant amount of work within the budget we have. Obviously, the more money we have, the more schools we will be able to build. We now have a budget of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth out to 2030. My intention is that as many projects as possible will be moved within that overall budget I have.

I also compliment both schools in question, including the principals and all of the teachers, and the community national school in particular, because I appreciate they are on the grounds of a football pitch. They have worked really well with the local community and GAA team as well, but they are working within a confined space. My absolute priority, and similarly for Coláiste Ríoga, which is working on a temporary site, is to get them into their permanent accommodation as quickly as possible to make sure the students who are there benefit from that permanent accommodation.

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