Two weeks ago, news broke that building has been paused on 58 school construction projects around the country, including four urgent school construction projects in my constituency of Dublin Bay South, two in Harold's Cross and two in Sandymount. All four are Educate Together schools whose campuses I have recently visited. I am getting so much correspondence from parents and staff in those schools who are deeply concerned at the halting of these projects. These are schools that are growing exponentially and that require additional space. This is also true of many of the other schools on the list.

I have not yet received nor have we seen the complete list of schools that apparently are not to be constructed now. We have not been given any indication from the Government as to why this pause has happened. I have written to the Minister for Education and tabled parliamentary questions on the matter. Just ten minutes ago I received a response from the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform indicating that there are no plans in place to fund the resumption of these projects. This is causing real alarm in my constituency, in the four Educate Together schools affected in Sandymount and Harold's Cross, as well as across the country. Can the Taoiseach throw some light on what has happened here and when the building will resume?

I am happy to confirm and give the reassurance that funding will be provided for those 58 schools to continue construction this year. The Department of Education is running over budget at the moment for lots of good reasons, mostly beyond its control, including higher construction costs. The Ministers for Education, and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform have been working together as recently as yesterday to try to bottom out what additional funding would be required. Additional funding will be required but I can give the reassurance to those schools that the delay is going to be a short one.