The section of the programme for Government that deals with education states that teachers and pupils are at the heart of the education system. Earlier this week, I visited Edmund Rice College in Blanchardstown. It has been waiting for a new school building for five years. It has now been told that the earliest it will be delivered will be February 2022. The reality is that construction takes far longer than that and the school believes the building will be delivered later that year, possibly in September 2022. If the Government can fast-track co-living developments, strategic housing developments, strategic infrastructure and prisons, why can it not fast-track schools? Why does it take so long for schools to be built? I appeal for the Government to look at the legislation and figure out whether we can get schools delivered quickly because there is serious pressure in Dublin 15 in the context of school places.

It is my understanding that the Department of Education and Skills was standardising the process and has a staged process that aims to smooth out the difficulties in order that schools are built quickly. If the Deputy provides me with details of the case in question, I will forward them to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Foley, and ask her to identify the best possible timeline for the delivery of the school.