THE PATRONAGE OF 12 primary schools to be established this year have been confirmed by the Department of Education.

Seven of the new schools will see Educate Together as patron, two will be under the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, one will be under the Louth-Meath Education and Training Board and two Irish-language schools will be under An Foras Pátrúnachta.

The process to examine the patronage of the new schools was overseen by the independent New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG), which was set up in 2011 to advise the education minister.

In s statement today, Education Minister Joe McHugh said he accepted the recommendations of the group in respect of each of the 12 schools.

The schools were announced last year with the department saying the locations were chosen in areas facing “increased demographic pressures”.

Seven of the schools are located in Dublin, two are in Kildare and there are one each in Cork, Meath and Wicklow.

Long-term accommodation for the schools has not yet been put in place and the department has said they will be established “in interim accommodation initially”.

Permanent buildings are to be established under the department’s design and build programme.

“The department has appointed a project manager to assist in the procurement of interim school accommodation for the schools opening in September 2019, and interim accommodation solution options have been identified for all of the schools,” a statement said this morning.

The department has undertaken a number of different initiatives to allow parents have input into the patronage of schools in different areas and the minister said this was a factor in the decisions on these 12 schools.

“Parental preference has become a key determinant in deciding the patronage of new schools and I’m pleased to say that the views of parents as expressed through the process are strongly reflected in the decisions I have made on the patronage of these 12 new schools,” he said.

The minister added that the “a growing cohort” of pupils at primary level is expected over the coming years and that additional places are being planned for.

These are the 12 new schools and their relevant patronage: