Education debate: Developers of major residential developments should be obliged by law to provide a portion of their land to the Government for schools, a Dublin councillor claimed at the Greens' convention.
Mr Fintan McCarthy from Lucan said the Department of Education was frequently faced with paying €1 million per acre when buying property for new schools. While the population of Lucan had trebled in the 'Celtic Tiger' period, he said there was no commensurate investment in education.
Parents attempting to enrol their children in certain schools were almost engaging in a raffle. "We would not treat children as Lotto numbers," he said.
Mr McCarthy was speaking in a debate during which education spokesman, Mr Paul Gogarty, said the education system should no longer concentrate exclusively on academic achievement. He called for a more rounded and more creative system "involving additional school hours with a wider curriculum and family friendly measures".
