John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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They may be small numbers but in Wicklow, it cost €6 million in one year to provide temporary accommodation by renting land, renting prefabs and so on. That is not value for money, in my book. It is a failure by the Department to forward-plan to provide education for pupils who, as a right, should have it in appropriate settings.

I will give Ms McNally an example. One of my daughters started primary school in a prefab that was totally unfit for purpose. She also attended secondary school in a prefab. She went to college in Maynooth and was educated in a prefab there too. Throughout her education, she was educated in prefabs. She is now a primary school teacher, so after 18 years of education, it was only when she became a primary school teacher that she set foot in a purpose-built classroom. That is a real failure, and there are pupils like her throughout the State who have been systematically failed by the State in the provision of education but also the provision of subject options in secondary school. There is a real failure here by the Department. There is no efficiency whatsoever and there is a real failure of forward planning.