Commuter belt to cater for 20,000 extra pupils

DEPARTMENT of Education projections show that up to one-fifth of all new school places will have to be provided in the expanding commuter belt in north Dublin and parts of Meath and Louth.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) called last night for priority to be given to the region following publication of a draft area plan by the department’s Commission on School Accommodation.

It suggests that 20,000 extra pupils must be catered for in new schools or extensions to current buildings in north Dublin, south Co Louth and east Co Meath in the next decade. Parts of these areas, such as Dublin 15 and Laytown, Co Meath, have already been the subject of a scramble for school places as existing schools face difficulty coping with the numbers of children in new estates and towns being built in recent years.

INTO general secretary John Carr said the rising number of children expected to grow up in the region comes out of a 100,000increase in the national school population predicted in the National Development Plan 2007-2013 published earlier this week.

“The fact that this number of places is needed in one small part of the country shows that decentralisation plans and the national spatial strategy are in severe difficulty,” he said.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin said the report shows that a significant amount of work is already taking place in these areas, including plans for a new primary school in Laytown, three primary schools in Dublin 15 and second level schools in Dublin 15, Donabate and Balbriggan.