Greens say €1bn more will be spent on education

The Green Party has said that should it enter government, it will look at "legislative and constitutional change" to ensure that developers include land for schools in new housing schemes.

Launching the party's "50 Steps to a Better Education System" yesterday, it also said it would introduce 2,400 new teachers into primary and secondary education, set maximum class sizes and offer €2,500 per annum interest-free loans to third-level students.

It promised to increase education spending by €1 billion in the first year of government.

Education spokesman Paul Gogarty said the recent planned town at Adamstown, Dublin, would act as a template for future development, with developers expected to include land for schools as part of planning permission.

"Any new school should be provided as part of a housing development. If that requires legislative and constitutional change, we will look at that."

Mr Gogarty said the schools would be built as multi-use facilities, "so that the school building is there. If the population isn't there for the school, it will be a community facility and it will gradually evolve into a school.

"Rather than waiting 10 years and have people having to drive all over the place to find a school, we're saying take a pro-active approach and start from scratch."

A total of €92 million will be set aside to cover the salary and training costs of new teachers.

The promises also include health and nutrition classes for all parents of children starting primary school, measures to reduce the weight of school bags and the inclusion of second-level pupils on school boards of management.

The party said it would deliver one year's free pre-school education, which is also promised by Labour and Fine Gael. It also promised to raise investment in school building and maintenance and to ensure that all new school buildings are carbon neutral.

Mr Gogarty denied that it was an overly-ambitious plan, and insisted that it was "fully-costed" that he expected that "most of the 50 steps can be implemented in a one- or two-year period".