Labour has called upon Education Minister Richard Bruton to explain whether his planned new school programme will have an impact on existing school refurbishment projects.

Earlier today, 13 April, Minister Bruton revealed plans to establish 42 new schools in Ireland over the next four years, creating over 20,000 new school places.

However, Labour Finance spokesperson Joan Burton TD has called upon the Minister to explain whether plans for new schools will impact existing school refurbishment projects and whether extra capital has been provided to fund the new builds.

"While welcoming the objective of today's announcement- the provision of new schools that are obviously needed to meet the growing population demands- it also raises a number of questions that the Minister for Education needs to provide clarity on," Deputy Burton said.

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"We need to know what is happening to the hundreds of school projects that are already on existing lists, and whether these refurbishments will be impacted, delayed or put on hold indefinitely. Existing schools waiting for years for rebuilding and refurbishments don't deserve to be put at the back of the queue.

"There are a lot of schools that were built in the 1960s and 70s that are in dire need of renovation, which students and parents have been patiently waiting on for a number of years, and today's announcement has understandably caused concern that these projects might now be delayed further.

Continuing, Deputy Burton said the Minister needs to explain where the funding for these new schools is coming from and if the Minister for Finance has granted an extra allocation of funds.

"Have the sites already been allocated, and if so, has the capital been provided for the State to acquire these sites?," she said.

"The last Government committed to ridding our schools of prefabs, but now the Minister's statement implies a renewed reliance on prefabs and small patch up jobs- how disappointing from a Government that is planning to lock a billion a year in a rainy day fund."

(LM/MH)