Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I just want to join my Oireachtas colleagues from the south east on the significance and the importance of both the N24 and N25 and in bringing it to the next stage. It is a massive issue. It is a corridor from Rosslare Harbour from Belview right cross to Cork and over to Limerick. I want to thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for his engagement with myself and other Oireachtas colleagues in trying to get this project over the line. I look forward to seeing announcements today and in the coming weeks.

Specifically, I want to speak about the delays in the schools building programme. Before I say anything, I will start by paying tribute to all of the school community - the teachers, the principals, the parents and the ancillary staff. The emphasis on education that this Government and the Irish people have is absolutely unbelievable and fantastic, but we need a timeline for delivery. In my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, there are about 15 different projects that are stalled at the moment. It is not good enough. Education is the heartbeat of this country and it has meant this country has been able to thrive and prosper on national and international stages. We need to make sure we have top-class infrastructure and facilities for our students to go to. I visited a school last week with the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. It was Duiske College in Graiguenamanagh. It is a fantastic school and the heartbeat of that rural area. There are, however, prefabs in that school that are older than myself. If the Minister of State does not mind me saying it, they are probably even older than himself. It is in a shocking condition. We need investment in these schools, but for some reason, things have seemed to be getting stuck at the stage 2b. This is a huge concern and huge worry for schools.

Coláiste Abhainn Rí  in Callan, Borris College, St. Mary's CBS in Carlow, Duiske College in Graiguenamanagh and Scoil Mhuire National School in Mooncoin are all ready to go. The students and parents deserve it. I implore the Minister of State to do his best to try to get these programmes fast-tracked and to give a timeline for delivery.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I thank both Deputies. I acknowledge their commitment and support for the previous debate with regard to the N24 and N25. On behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton, I am taking this debate.

The Department of Education and Youth has a strong record of delivering the Government's school building programme. Since 2020, more than €6 billion has been invented in schools across the country under the national development plan, NDP, involving the completion of over 1,300 school buildings. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the NDP. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting the demand for school places. A focus of this plan will be, in the first instance, to maximise the capacity of existing school estates as much as possible. Additional capacity will be provided through targeted and prioritised projects, which will be delivered over the course of 2026 to 2030, to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

There are over 300 school building projects under construction to deliver over 30,000 school places. Most of these projects are expected to be completed over the course of 2026 and 2027. It is planned that approximately 80 further school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a two-year rolling programme. Last week, the Minister's Department announced the investment of €90 million in the climate action summer works scheme, which involves the delivery of 297 projects, to support the ongoing investment in the maintenance and upgrade of the school estate. There is a strong modular programme to deliver the most urgent September needs, with a particular focus on educational needs. We will deliver on key climate initiatives, such as the solar PV programme, the EU retrofit programme and the pathfinder programmes, in participation with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI.

Project delivery is managed as part of an overall capital programme in line with the Government's infrastructure guidelines and taking account of budgetary parameters. Delays can occur in large capital programmes for many reasons, including factors beyond the control of the Minister and the Department, such as the time taken to secure a site or the relevant statutory permissions, including planning consent. These are managed as effectively as possible, prioritising the most urgent projects where capacity is fully utilised and deploying modular accommodation where additional space is needed in the short term. I take on board the Deputy's concern over that type of accommodation. The current status of all projects is set out on the Government's website, which is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

I strongly acknowledge, on behalf of the Minister, the commitment of both Deputies to this issue. It is important to teachers, parents, grandparents and, most important, the students. I appreciate the Deputies diligently going to the schools in their localities. They are meeting the concerns of those people and, most important, the students head-on. The Deputies have put that message on the record of the Dáil. On behalf of the Minister, I acknowledge their work and commitment on this important issue. It will be relayed to the Minister. I have read the Minister's response. I hope the Deputies will be successful in their endeavours on behalf of their constituents.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. For seven years, I was chairman of the Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board. Approximately six years ago, we got word that there was to be a new Kilkenny City Vocational School and that a new Gaelcholáiste in Kilkenny for those who want to be taught through the medium of Irish was going to begin its journey. These were to be two new schools in a campus project on a brand-new greenfield site. This particular project has been stuck at stage 2b for the last number of months. In other words, we are ready to go. Everything has been done. We just need the nod from the Department so we can get shovels in the ground and get this project started. The difference that this particular campus will make to Kilkenny City Vocational School and to Coláiste Pobail Osraí, a campus for over 1,000 students in Kilkenny city, which has a growing population, will be absolutely massive. I implore the Minister of State to highlight the issue and fast-track this project, get the announcement out to the principals of the schools and allow the shovels into the ground so that these projects can start and these schools and the school community can benefit as soon as possible.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response. I totally understand there can be delays to various projects. In nearly all of these cases, if it has got to stage 2b, the land is there and the school is ready to go. Stage 2b seems to be some sort of bizarre purgatory within the Department.

I welcome the fact that the Minister of State talked about 80 further school programmes. All that many of these schools are asking for is a clear timeline. If it is published on the Department website, as the Minister of State said, that construction on a particular school will start at a particular time, say, September 2026, at least then the schools will know and we can be realistic about the matter. There is a real concern as to how long we will be getting cut-and-paste answers from the Department.

I could mention other schools, including Gorey Hill special school and Ballygarrett National School. For the schools I mentioned that have been stuck for a long time at stage 2b, namely, Glenart College, Bunclody Community College and Coláiste Bhríde Carnew, all they want to know is when they will move beyond stage 2b. The Department should publish that information on the website.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I again thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. The Department of Education and Youth capital investment programme helps to ensure that close to 1 million primary and post-primary students in schools across the country learn in fit-for-purpose buildings. This includes many thousands of children with additional needs who are supported in special schools and classes across the country. Funding under the NDP for 2026 to 2030 will allow the Government to continue to prioritise the effective use of the existing school estate, special educational needs provision and the delivery of additional accommodation, where required. This will be supported by targeted and prioritised project roll-outs to provide required additional capacity where there is no sufficient existing capacity across the schools in an area. The Department of Education and Youth's NDP implementation plan will be published shortly. It will set out in more detail the planned capital investment programme across the school building programme.

I again acknowledge the Deputies' commitment to this issue. I appreciate Deputy Byrne's analogy. It is almost like the Bermuda triangle. It can be very frustrating but at the end of the day, both Deputies are doing their best on this very important issue.

I express my appreciation to Deputy 'Chap' Cleere for his commitment recently with regard to forestry issues. I am straying but I thank him for his concern on behalf of his constituents. I thank both of the Deputies very much.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Deputies. The next Topical Issue, in the name of Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, is to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to discuss outbreaks of TB in cattle in Kerry.