I raise the issue of Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire as well as other school projects, not only in Cork North-Central but across the country. The Taoiseach is familiar with the project. He attended a number of years ago the launch of the proposal for a brand new school. Unfortunately, since then, the school has been stuck in the perennial 2A, 2B log-jam.

I recognise that capital spending on education has increased by about 70% since 2022 or 2023. I am not saying that significant investment has not gone in, but many projects like that of Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire, where I live, are looking for confirmation of whether they will be part of any tranche of construction that will be launched next year. As we know, time is money. In the case of many of these capital projects, the longer we leave them on the long finger, the more likely it is that the cost will increase. It would be appreciated if the Taoiseach could bring some clarity to the situation.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. He has been raising it for quite some time and there is a degree of frustration on his part and that of the school patrons and community about progressing the school to the next stage. While he is correct in saying that additional funding has been allocated to education, inflation has eaten up a significant amount of this. The cost of school projects generally has increased, per project, by significant degrees. That said, I will keep a focus on this and will engage with the Minister for education on progressing the project as quickly as possible.