Mr. Hubert Loftus:

Deputy Aylward asked a question about Arklow. The Department was already aware of the issues and was following up with the education and training board on the matter prior to the issue coming to the attention of the Comptroller and Auditor General as part of the audit. We explained our position on the matter.

Reference was made to temporary accommodation for Naas community national school. This was a school in prefabs. It had demographic needs. Two additional prefabs were approved to cater for those needs. Separately, the original, older prefabs in the school incurred some damage in storms. Emergency approval was granted to make repairs but there were concerns among the parental group about the suitability of the full school to be in operation at that location. A decision was made at the time to temporarily locate the school at a vacant permanent building that the Department had built in Craddockstown. We had earmarked that as an advance building for Naas community college. That was a temporary move. The prefabs were provided in the original location for Naas community national school but because of parental concerns the school did not go back to the original prefabs. Those prefabs were then vacant and the education and training board had a demographic need for two prefabs in Maynooth. They were relocated there.

The overall context when looking at this issue is the scale and extent of demographic growth in the Kildare area at the time. During the past decade primary enrolments in Kildare have grown by approximately 20% while post-primary enrolments have grown by close enough to 35% or 40%. There were extraordinary demographic pressures and it was not easy to manage and cater for these at the time. That is the context.

The question of most pertinence in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General was the procurement process for the removal of the prefabs from Naas to Maynooth.