I express the deep frustration, anger and disappointment that has been expressed to me by the staff of Davitt College in Castlebar over the pausing of the building programme at the school. A commitment was given to the school two years ago that the accommodation issue would be prioritised to facilitate the growth in numbers if it increased its cap to 170. The school did that but the Government commitment has not been fulfilled. The school was informed on 30 January that the building programme has been stopped to allow for a review. The proposed state-of-the-art extension has since ground to a halt. The only additional classroom space the school has received is four Portakabins. What do we need to do to get the project developed for the staff and students of Davitt College, as was faithfully promised to them by the Department of Education last September?

I thank Deputy Dillon for raising this important issue and for advocating on behalf of Davitt College. I can give him the assurance that we will sort this out. There are a number of school projects across the country, including in my own constituency, that either have planning permission or have already gone to tender and the tender has been awarded. We have run into a difficulty. The Department of Education is doing a brilliant job at building new schools and extending others. Because of the increase in construction costs, the money has begun to run out. We are going to have to allocate additional capital to it and the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, are working on the details of that. We should be able to sort it out before the Easter break.