The next cabinet will need to spend €700m to cope with the expected growth in demand for education, says social policy think tank SCP in a new report. The SCP says the forecast growth in school pupil and student numbers has only partially been adopted by the education ministry.

The SCP report, on trends in public spending, also forecasts a drop in the amount needed to process asylum requests.
The SCP says the cost of public services between 1995 and 2004 rose an average of 3.4% a year. Spending on police and the legal system rose 4.7%, on healthcare the increase was 4% and on education 3.3%.