Archbishop: Government squandered wealth

THE Government was accused last night by Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin of squandering the public wealth of the last decade which should have been used to improve school buildings, supports for immigrant children and reduce class sizes.

Dr Martin also blamed the shortage of school places in fast-growing communities on the bad planning of the Department of Education and local councils.

“Sadly, while education contributed decisively to Ireland’s unprecedented growth and wealth, not enough of the fruits of that growth and wealth have been poured back into education in a focussed way. We still have school buildings which are not up to adequate standards,” he said.