Schoolchildren ‘will be turned away’

THE Department of Education has acknowledged that up to 64 additional second-level classrooms will have to be built in the next five years to provide for a major population explosion adjacent to the Cork-Midleton railway line.

Earlier this week, before Batt O’Keeffe was transferred to the new Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Department, the ex-education minister said he was taking “decisive steps” to address the situation.

However, Deputy David Stanton said unless the Department of Education acts with “urgency” many pupils face being turned away from secondary schools in Midleton and Carrigtwohill.