Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for taking this item. Like my colleague Deputy Cleere, I acknowledge the significant investment in the school building programme. However, there does, of late, seem to be slow progress on certain projects. We are looking for an assurance that when it comes to the school building programme the capital is in place to be able to deliver on those much-needed schools. The concern I have is that I placed parliamentary questions at the start of the year and six, seven or eight months later, I seem to get a cut-and-paste answer. There does not seem to be any progress being made.

The Minister of State will know that this is not just a concern that Deputy Cleere and I share, coming from the south east. This is happening across the country. I represent the Wicklow-Wexford constituency, which is one of the fastest growing in Ireland. There are real concerns and implications for the staff and students in those schools. Let me give an example. Glenart College in Arklow has a major problem with leaks. It requires new emergency accommodation and a three-classroom special educational needs, SEN, base. It progressed to stage 2b in May 2024 but there does not seem to have been any movement since. The situation is similar in Bunclody Community College, which is another school stuck at stage 2b.

The Minister of State might remember that in June this year, we were in this Chamber at midnight discussing a Topical Issue about Coláiste Bhríde Carnew. I will let the Minister of State guess at what stage that school is stuck. It is still stuck at stage 2b. To be or not to be is the question. If the Department of education has decided it can progress an education system without clear timelines for capital projects, that is Hamlet without the prince.

See this speech in context