€2.8 billion is being invested by the government in a plan that could see the end of long-term prefab use in schools by 2021.
The government today announced the plan as part of a six-year capital plan that will see €2.8bn invested to school building projects nationwide.
It is hoped that the plan will give Irish primary schools an extra 19,000 places for students to avail of, as well as an anticipated 43,000 places being made available at second level.
Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan said: “We’re committed to ending the use of pre-fabs in any kind of a long-term way.
There may always be a need for pre-fabs in the short term, but through this programme we will no longer have pre-fabs in schools for long-term use.
“I think that is a very positive development for our young children.”
The announcement comes against a backdrop of high birth rates which will see numbers rising until 2018 for primary school, after which they are forecast to reduce.