Details of seven new schools to be built using Public-Private Partnerships have been announced by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe.
The schools, in six different counties, will provide new school places for over 4,800 pupils.
The minister said he hoped the schools would be up and running by late 2012.
Under the PPP programme private companies place a tender to not just design and build the school buildings, but also to run and maintain them for the first 20 or so years.
Six of the new projects are second-level schools while one is a primary school.
