Labour Meath East by-election candidate, Eoin Holmes, has joined Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, in St. Peters College, Dunboyne, to unveil a new plaque to mark the completion of the school's new extension.

Mr Holmes said: "I am delighted to visit this new €4.5 million state of the art 3,431m2 extension, which has allowed the school to accommodate over 1,000 pupils. I also welcome news that a further major extension is planned next year which will deliver a further 1,739m2 of accommodation to meet the growing demand in this excellent school.

"When Labour got into government, we committed to upgrading our schools and getting rid of prefabs – and I am delighted that thanks to the national €370m Schools Building programme for 2013 –students not just in St Peter’s College but all over Meath will benefit. A new secondary school will be built in Ashbourne later this year, along with new school buildings scheduled for Ratoath, Duleek and Dunshaughlin.

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"It is a sad indictment of Fianna Fail's reign in government that despite all the wealth which existed, prefabs had become an acceptable place to educate young children - in 2009, €39m a year was being spent renting such prefabs. Labour in Government is working hard to reverse this - already the annual bill for prefab rental is down to €19m in 2012, and we will do more. Since the School Buildings Project was initiated, 18 schools across Meath have seen their prefabs replaced with new proper fit for purpose classrooms. And to coincide with this up to 900 additional primary and secondary teachers will also be hired for schools across Ireland this year.

"Reform is also under way in the area of patronage. Currently, 92% of all primary schools are under the patronage of the Catholic Church. In Meath, it has been clear for many years that this doesn’t reflect the preferences of the diversity of parents in our towns and villages. Thanks to the rising birth rates in recent years, there has been a need for new schools to be created across Meath, and this has allowed for Educate Together and Multi-denominational Gaelscoils to be created in many of our towns."

(CD)