Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, further to her reply to Question No. 56 of 13 November 2007, if the promised developing area unit has not yet been established; if so, when it will be set up; the staff structure and numbers it will have; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33450/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Further to my reply to Question No. 56 of 13 November 2007, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department's developing areas unit has been established.

To date, 11 members of staff have been redeployed to the unit, comprising one principal officer, one assistant principal officer, one senior architect, one architectural assistant, three higher executive officers and four executive officers.

As some of these staff would have been looking after developing areas anyway, the consolidation of effort in the new unit will ensure that they are more effectively deployed. The process of filling some of the vacancies arising from the redeployment of staff to the new unit from other areas is in train. A further five additional posts, including a professional planner, have been approved for the unit. The necessary recruitment arrangements are being put in place. The staffing of the unit will be kept under review in light of the evolution of its work programme.

My Department has already taken a number of steps to improve provision for developing areas in recent years. More effective forward planning has been put in place through greater co-operation with local authorities and the publication of ten-year area development plans. Innovations such as the use of generic repeat designs, and design and build contracts have been introduced to ensure that new buildings can be delivered much faster. Greater authority has been devolved to local school management to manage and deliver small building works, thereby freeing up my Department to concentrate on larger projects.

All these developments have facilitated the provision of extra school places in extensions and new schools in developing areas all over the country. The Government is very conscious of the need to ensure timely provision of extra accommodation for the estimated 100,000 extra children who will enter our primary schools over the next seven years or so. To that end, an additional €95 million, an increase of 30%, is being provided for primary school buildings in 2008, bringing total capital expenditure on the building programme to nearly €600 million next year.

The €4.5 billion included in the national development plan for school buildings will enable my Department to continue to take a proactive approach to the provision of modern school accommodation across the country, but particularly in developing areas, over the coming years.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I note what the Minister has said and I gather from her reply that vacancies have been advertised and some people have been moved from one part of the Department to another. The unit as promised in the programme for government has been established, a point to which I will return later.

Regarding the other information the Minister gave, can she confirm that schools were told last September that no further money was available for capital projects in the calendar year 2007, that 30 schools were informed by telephone by the Department that they could not proceed to tender, that her Department is now engaging through a consultancy firm, KSN Project Management Limited, in inviting tenders dated November from would-be contractors to provide by 2 January proposals for schools that would be built and operational by 1 September next year, that she has taken no steps to provide for planning permission for these schools, that it is a blind tender for either a 16-room——

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That does not relate directly to the question.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I am asking whether the Minister can confirm this. Is it true? With this massive amount of money, will we have a whole new generation of tin boxes, similar to the prefabs built when free secondary education was introduced in the 1960s?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding the schools contacted by the Department, in January we will notify the schools that will be allowed to go to tender. We will do it over a phased basis during the year. Quite a number of schools are at various stages in the process — design, architectural planning, ready to go to tender, etc. Regarding greenfield sites for the fast developing areas, a tendering document was advertised in September of last year seeking companies to build offsite and then construct onsite. I am probably not using the right terminology. It is a kind of "drop-in" facility.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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They are called prefabs.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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No, it is not. It is permanent accommodation that will last 25 to 30 years. The buildings constructed in the 1970s have lasted 30 to 35 years. It is a speedy, efficient and good quality way to deliver accommodation. I have always outlined that the timeframe we have for many developing areas is extraordinarily tight. The tenders are due to be opened on 2 January, at which point we will move ahead. In parallel, sites are being identified and purchased through the various local authorities and in co-operation with the local authorities, and planning permission will be sought then.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In her reply the Minister has confirmed that we will get a new generation of state-of-the-art prefabs — there is no other word for it. They will have a life expectancy of 25 years, which could be extended further. The others had such a life expectancy, but some are still being used. Can she explain what steps her Department has taken to obtain planning permission for those schools? Will these buildings be temporary structures, exempted under the requirement to apply for planning permission, thereby confirming that she is engaged upon, as is happening in Laytown, a whole new generation of prefabs to be filled with pupils whose own children will not see the permanent schools that should be built in the first place?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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What the Deputy is referring to is a very modern efficient way of construction. It is important that we should have accommodation as efficiently and as speedily as possible. The one in Laytown is not exactly what we are talking about. However, Laytown is a good example of very good quality accommodation and the people there are very pleased with it. However, that is not the one about which we are talking for future needs.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department is paying €60,000 per month in rent on it.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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We need planning permission for the accommodation on these sites.