Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been some incredible work done in the last three or four years on the replacement of prefabs across our whole school system. Our prefab rental bill has dropped from just under €40 million per annum to €25 million. We have replaced a huge number of prefabs across the country, at a time when resources were very limited. I say well done to the building unit and to anybody involved in that programme.

Will the same momentum continue? Will there be that focus on reducing the use of prefabs in our school system? Over time they have become inherently unsafe places in which to educate our children. Why they were ever adopted as a mechanism for providing school places I do not know. I would like to see the excellent work of the last two or three years continuing.

A number of schools that are on the existing capital programme have, due to nobody's fault, experienced some serious issues around site acquisition, particularly in east Galway. Will such schools automatically migrate over to the new programme? One assumes they would but I would like confirmation.

I congratulate the Minister on the impending publication of the digital schools strategy and on securing €210 million to fund it. A strategy without funding is a pretty pointless exercise. I look forward to seeing that money being expended.

Over the last three or four years, great work has been done on the provision of 100 MB broadband to every post-primary school in the country. Is it envisaged that part of the €210 million will be spent on providing the same to our 3,300 primary schools? While it is a huge undertaking, in the context of a national broadband programme which seeks to have 30 MB to every community by 2020, I hope there is a parallel ambition to connect all our primary schools to a minimum of 30 MB and an aspiration to 100 MB over time. siliconrepublic.comhas predicted that by 2020 we will have the fastest rural broadband in Europe, based on the private and public investment that is about to happen. The last thing we need is for that broadband provision to be put in place while our school system lags behind. I would like to see this develop in parallel with the programme being rolled out by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White.