Fine Gael TD for Cork South West, Noel Harrington, has welcomed the announcement by Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, that two new National School building projects, St. Joseph’s and St. John’s, will take place in Kinsale in 2013. This announcement is part of a national school building plan that will see the construction of 35 new schools and 15 schools receiving extensions in 2013.
“This is great news for Kinsale. Every parent wants to give their children the best possible start in life and I think that this school building plan will be welcomed by parents and pupils alike.
“On a national level, this will lead to the creation of over 4,000 jobs during construction phase and will provide over 25,000 permanent school places. Of these, almost 21,000 will be additional places and the remainder will replace temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.
“We have to try to ensure that every child growing up in Ireland will have access to a school place and ideally, a space that makes learning more appealing.
“The projects being announced are part of the €2 billion five year plan which will see 275 new major school building projects implemented over the period 2012-2016.
“This announcement is part of the Government’s plan to provide more than 100,000 permanent school places over the course of the five year plan. Total enrolment in both primary and post- primary schools is expected to grow by around 70,000 between now and 2018 – by over 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post primary. These schools will help deal with this increased demand.”