Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I second the motion.

It is nice to see the Minister here and I thank him and his officials for attending this debate. I must concur with much of what was said by my colleague, Senator Healy Eames. The biggest issue for me would be transparency on the building projects. Two weeks ago while the Minister was in Monaghan, he made his announcements. How do schools get left out? It does not seem to be the duration that they are left on the list, the numbers of pupils that are in an overcrowded situation nor their whereabouts in the country. They could be rural or urban. However, it seems that schools in the area of the commuter belt of Dublin get priority and I ask the Minister for clarification in that regard.

There are examples I would like to raise with the Minister. He kindly met with a representative Ballymahon group and he met with a representative group of the Athlone Community College. These are two schools with which I am intensely familiar, as he probably knows from his dealings in his own constituency.