Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

When I was teaching, there were no remedial or resource teachers or classroom assistants and the school psychological service had not been established. These issues were addressed during the years and 2,900 additional teachers, for example, have been appointed since 1997 at an annual cost of €116 million. The Government has done well, but I take Senator Browne's point that many of those teachers work in substandard conditions. I am amazed that professionals such as architects and engineers are still required to draft plans for prefabs, which is ridiculous. Recently, I came across a case where an architect was required to submit a planning application for a 50 square metre prefab. Such structures are needed quickly if remedial or resource teachers, classroom assistants are appointed or the psychological service is extended to new schools.

When former Deputies Donal Creed and Gemma Hussey served as Ministers in the Department of Education and Science, they introduced a successful initiative which provided for low cost buildings. This was maintained by the Leader of the House when she served as Minister for Education. I have seen classrooms which were built in the 1980s as stand-alone projects at a cost of £8,000 or £9,000. Architects and engineers were not needed as the school was only required to submit three quotations to the Department, which would then select the contractor before proceeding with the project. This approach should be adopted rather than using professionals for every small project.

I am afraid a similar pattern could emerge through the use of public-private partnerships. I would like to learn more about PPPs because transparency is necessary. The Minister for Education and Science stated he would try to address the primary school buildings issue in the same way he addressed group water schemes when he took up office as Minister for the Environment and Local Government in the previous Administration. He used a simple formula because the administration of the schemes was a shambles with people in rural Ireland paying charges for water while those living in cities did not. He streamlined the scheme by funding applications in the order they were submitted to the Department and I have every confidence he will do likewise in addressing the backlog of schools building projects, which is causing a significant furore throughout the State.