Number of new schools built is halved

JUST 20 new schools were built last year – less than half of the number constructed in 2008, new figures from the Department of Education show.

Figures supplied to Fine Gael Education Spokesman Brian Hayes in a parliamentary question show that in 2008 a total of 48 new schools were completed, providing 486 permanent mainstream classrooms.

In the same year, 29 large- scale extension/refurbishment projects were completed and these provided a further 104 permanent mainstream classrooms.