Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Increased enrolments and the appointment of nearly 5,000 extra primary teachers since 2002 alone have created a considerable demand for extra school accommodation in recent years. This is being met by unprecedented investment in the school building programme, with more than €540 million being spent this year.

My Department has sought to provide schools with permanent solutions to their accommodation needs where possible. Construction in 2007 alone will deliver more than 700 classrooms to provide permanent accommodation for more than 17,500 pupils, mainly in developing areas.

One of the methods that has helped us to keep expenditure on prefabs at a minimum has been the introduction of the permanent accommodation scheme. Since 2003, schools have been offered capital funding to build extra classrooms rather than taking prefabs. Between 2003 and 2006, 200 schools were approved under this scheme, at a total cost of €54.1 million, but last year, €27.5 million was provided for this scheme. We have dramatically increased the allocation in 2007 to €47.4 million to allow more than 305 classrooms and 182 resource rooms to be sanctioned this year alone.

This and other initiatives have enabled us to keep expenditure on the rental of temporary accommodation low. The Deputy's question refers to the fact that €24.5 million was spent on rental last year. I should also point out that while much of this rented accommodation is in prefabricated units it can also include the rental of buildings. It is important to put this figure in context. In fact, it amounts to less than 5% of the almost €525 million invested in school buildings last year.

Where accommodation is needed at very short notice, however, temporary accommodation can be the only option. Such accommodation may also be used where the need is short-term, such as when a school requires a temporary building or is awaiting the completion of construction of permanent facilities.

With a view to shortening construction times and achieving better value for money, my Department has developed standard designs for primary schools, known as generic repeat designs. Using such a design, the construction of Griffeen Valley Educate Together school took only five months.

We are also moving towards greater use of system build accommodation, whereby a significant amount of the construction work for school buildings can be completed off-site while planning permission is awaited. Using this type of approach, my Department was able to provide a new 16 classroom school in Laytown this year.

As part of the strategy for the provision of school places for 2008 and onwards, my Department has initiated a tender process for a drawdown contract facility that will be used to provide additional school places in the rapidly developing areas. This is aimed at providing school accommodation in very short timescales using modern methodologies such as off-site construction. We are using a range of methods, therefore, to limit the need for temporary accommodation.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Regarding the information on individual rental agreements sought by the Deputy, the situation is that in general, the board of management of a school is responsible for acquiring temporary accommodation, including the procurement of prefabs. In practice, a rental contract is between a school's board of management and a supplying contractor.

It is important to emphasise that the Department examines all applications for additional accommodation on an individual basis to determine if the need exists in the first instance. My officials also decide if the level of funding being sought by a school for prefab rental is acceptable. My Department is satisfied that adequate financial management measures are in place and that comprehensive information is available on individual records held on individual school files. However, my Department does not have details of all of these contractual arrangements entered into by schools available in a format that provides readily accessible cumulative information on the overall position. It is intended to address this issue as part of a general review of rental policy currently being undertaken by my Department.

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