Govt school-building programme 'to create 15,000 jobs'

The Government has announced 219 new school-building projects which will create more than 15,000 jobs over a five-year construction period, according to the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn.

It comes on top of 56 similar projects, details of which have previously been announced, as part of a €2bn capital investment programme.

The plan includes 106 new primary schools, 43 new secondary schools and eight new schools for children with special needs, as well as extensions to existing schools.

Minister Quinn said: "In line with the Programme for Government, and the Government's Capital Investment Programme, we are prioritising investment in school buildings during these tougher economic times.

"This investment in major school building projects will create an estimated 15,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs over the period of the programme (an annual average of 3,000 direct and 600 indirect jobs). A total of €1.5bn will be spent on these 275 projects."

This is the first time that the Department of Education and Skills has published a five-year plan for school buildings.

The Minister said that this will facilitate schools' plans to meet local demand for places and will provide greater transparency in the operation of the school building programme.

"We have to ensure that every child growing up in Ireland can access a physical school place," said the Minister.

"Our programme unveiled today means that schools and parents will be able to plan much better for their children’s education at a time when enrolments at both primary and second level are rising dramatically."

Total enrolment is expected to grow by around 70,000 students between now and 2018 – by over 45,000 at primary level (currently 509,000 students) and 25,000 at post primary (currently 351,000). Second level enrolment is expected to continue to rise until at least 2024.

It has been claimed that the plan will provide more than 100,000 permanent school places, of which over 80,000 will be new school places.

The remainder will be the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.