Mayo communities ‘in the dark’ over long delays to capital projects

A Mayo TD has raised a red flag over the financial status of approved and planned capital projects in the county due to the crippling impact of inflation.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh said the situation is posing a threat to investment earmarked for schools, hospitals and roads.

The Sinn Féin TD stated the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council estimated that existing plans are facing a deficit of €2.7 billion nationally due to spiralling costs and the exchequer has only allocated €250 million.

She elaborated: “Two years of record inflation means the level of funding is nowhere near sufficient. My concern is how that will play out in terms of vital projects needed in Mayo that are not being delivered.

“Communities have been left in the dark. They thought they had been agreed but they are not progressing at the speed they need them to.”

She cited the example of Ballinrobe Community School, which is awaiting works to start on a major extension, formally approved in June 2022.

The school does not have the capacity to take on the students seeking enrolment from next September, she stated.

Deputy Conway-Walsh added: “The school is asking the students to operate at a particular level when it does not have the resources that are needed to allow them to do so. As matters stand, it absolutely maximises the resources it has to make use of every square inch of space.

“The school first contacted the department about this matter in 2017 when it received projections relating to the number of students it would have to deal with in the future.

"Since then, members of new communities have come into the area. That is being embraced, but the school needs to be able to do as I have outlined. That is just one example.”

Many other communities found themselves in a similar situation, she said.

She was told Education Minister Norma Foley is making the case very strongly for funding that will allow projects, such as Ballinrobe school, to go ahead.