Money may build 50 primary schools

WORK on around 50 new primary schools could begin next year with the extra funding allocated in the Estimates, Education Minister Noel Dempsey said last night.

However, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) wants to meet urgently with Mr Dempsey to clarify the amount of building work that will be done with the 190 million announced yesterday.

Building work for just 12 new schools, at a cost of over 11m, was approved out of this year’s 167m first level building programme. The rest of the money went into refurbishment, prefabs and emergency repairs The Government has set aside an extra 23m for primary buildings in 2004, but Mr Dempsey believes there will be substantially more schools built. “Much of the money in this year’s building budget was already committed to projects which have since been completed, and I would expect to have up to another 27m for new schools to start work next year,” he said.