Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate

9:30 am

Mr. Hubert Loftus:

Our annual spend on rentals is about €29 million. It is consistently around that level over the years. An area I have looked at as head of the planning and building unit is broadening out our different delivery mechanisms to maximise the roll-out of the national development plan. Part and parcel of that was looking at modular accommodation and the creation of a modular accommodation framework. That is very positive from the climate agenda because it works off a decarbonised heating strategy. One variation of that which we put in place this year was a timber-frame modular framework. When looking at the spend, the recurring annual spend is the €29 million and the investment that we put into modular accommodation or other delivery projects is more general investment. The modular accommodation has a 60-year lifespan.