I ask the Tánaiste about the new school building programme. In my own area, Lismullen National School is waiting for a letter of intent, Dunshaughlin Community National School and Coláiste Ríoga, Dunshaughlin, went into planning four years ago and, at risk of my speaking time timing out, I mention Gormanston College and Dunboyne national schools. I see that there have been many Topical Issues and written questions from across the political spectrum asking the question as to why projects are not proceeding at the pace they were intended to. That is the position right across the country but particularly in the Dublin region or greater Dublin area. Is there a funding issue or what is behind this? We know that the national development plan is up for review, that many remedial works had to take place on buildings and that a number of building projects were paused last year due to funding. Is there a reason behind delays? Are there capacity issues in the Department or what is the reason for this? I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

We have ramped up the school building programme over the past two years and additional allocations are to be made in respect of the national development plan, NDP, as outlined by the Deputy. I expect all of those issues to be resolved very quickly so, therefore, we can hopefully have progress on the schools referred to by the Deputy.