Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We had a similar discussion earlier when I dealt with Deputy Thomas Byrne's question. I am absolutely confident that we are in a position to meet the demands of the expanding population. We are very fortunate to have a situation where, since 2011, there is a requirement to complete provision for 105,000 school places over a seven to eight year period. We are well on track to deliver those in accordance with the needs. That creates pressure on our budgets and 80% of our budgets have had to be devoted to the provision of additional places. The rate of provision is a substantial 14,000 to 15,000 new places every year and about 4,000 replacement school places. That is double what was occurring in 2010 and it has been steadily increasing.

In the recent review of capital funding, we got an allocation of an additional €322 million for the school sector. That will allow us to sustain the progress in this area. To give the Deputy an example of the delivery, we have had 170 entirely new schools since 2011 and 120 major expansions. We are making a very substantial investment right across the country. That is happening in light of our having a growing school population. Initially, the focus was very much on the primary sector but now it is moving into a very expanded programme at second level.

See this speech in context