40 schools to open as number of pupils rises

FORTY schools are to open in the next six years to cater for the growing school-going population.

A total of 20 new primary schools and 20 second level schools will be established, the majority in Dublin and the surrounding commuter belt.

The previous government had announced 18 of these schools, 13 of which were post-primary.

The schools are to cater for a predicted increase of more than 40,000 primary school pupils and 24,900 post-primary pupils by the start of the 2017/2018 school year.

Of the 40 schools, 17 will be in the Dublin area with a further 12 in Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth.

Six will be established in Cork, three in Galway and one each in Wexford and Cavan.The first of the schools is expected to open this September and are in addition to the seven primary schools that opened in the autumn of last year.

The schools will generally be 16 classroom schools and up to 1,000-student second-level schools. The estimated cost is expected to be in the region of €380 million with some due to be delivered using public-private partnerships.

There will also be additional school extension projects to cater for the increasing populations within existing schools .

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said patron bodies wishing to run the new schools would have to show evidence of demand from parents.

“We will be inviting them to consider whether they want to apply for specific school that we have identified that needs to be built in a particular area. The criteria will be very clear for them. They will have to undertake to meet the terms and conditions,” he said.

Mr Quinn said evidence of demand could be strong waiting lists for Educate Together schools but said he did not think he would regard the existence of baptismal records as sufficiently strong demand for a Catholic school.

Educate Together chief executive Paul Rowe said the announcement was welcome news for parents who are interested in multi-denominational education for their children.

“A critical element of today’s announcement will be the need for prospective patrons to be able to illustrate local demand for their new school applications. The new process offers Educate Together the opportunity to clearly present the healthy demand that exists both for our existing approach to primary education and our proposition at second level,” he said.

Mr Quinn also announced the establishment of a New Schools Establishment Group, which will advise him on the patronage of the new schools following its consideration of a report on the applications to be prepared by the Department of Education.