Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this adjournment matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills. I am glad to hear that progress was made in regard to St. Oliver Plunkett national school arising from the announcement made by the Tánaiste on 24 January.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the steps the Department of Education and Skills is taking to reduce overall spending costs associated with the rental of temporary accommodation in schools and outline to the House the position on St. Sylvester's national school in Malahide.

A review of policies and procedures for the provision of temporary classroom accommodation is well underway in the Department. The focus of this review is the development and adoption of practical measures and policies to achieve best value for money in the area of temporary school accommodation. It incorporates the development of standard specifications for temporary accommodation, the development of new contractual terms to incorporate buy-out and relocation options to cater for individual local circumstances and appropriately protects the interests of the Department and school authorities.

Work on the development of standard specifications for the provision of temporary accommodation units is nearing completion. The Department will pioneer this high quality specification for the provision of temporary units for schools. Policy changes implemented by the Department to achieve better value for money have already reduced the usage of temporary accommodation and, particularly, the incidence of long term rental of prefabs. One such change is to grant aid the purchase rather than rental of temporary accommodation where the need for such accommodation is likely to exist for more than three years.

Another policy change since July 2008 is that the Department now offers schools being approved for grant aid for temporary accommodation the option to use their capital grant aid to build permanent classrooms rather than purchase a prefab. I am pleased to inform the House that as a result of the action taken by the Department, an overall saving of €24 million has been achieved in spending on rental of temporary accommodation in the two year period 2008-10. This is a clear indication of the Department's efforts in the current economic climate to reduce spending in this area.

In September 2009, 2,037 prefabs were rented by primary and post-primary schools. This number has decreased to 1,744 and it is the aim of the Department to continue this downward trend in the coming years. Another strand of the review involves negotiations with prefab suppliers to buy out existing rental contracts and to secure reductions in annual rent, as appropriate. In 2010 the Department introduced a 10% reduction in rental grant amounts sanctioned for schools. This has also contributed to savings on rental costs and will continue to be implemented by the Department in 2011.

In regard to the buy out of existing rental contracts currently in place in many schools throughout the country, the selection criteria for buy out options identified a number of schools where lengthy or costly rental contracts exist. An initial group of schools with rented prefabricated accommodation was identified for priority negotiations with suppliers to buy out existing rental contracts. This group included St. Sylvester's in Malahide. As a result of these negotiations, 171 rented prefab units at 25 schools throughout the country have been purchased. This practice will continue for the foreseeable future.

Officials from the Department visited St. Sylvester's in October 2010 and examined the prefabs being rented with a view to purchasing the units. They reported that the prefabs were in good condition and well maintained. On 29 November 2010 the school authorities were informed that it had been decided to purchase the rented accommodation as it provided better value for money. The school authorities were also advised that the purchase of rented accommodation would not affect the school's application for a permanent extension. The Department is cognisant that there is a requirement for these prefabs for the foreseeable future and they will remain in place, whether rented or purchased, until such time as the permanent building is delivered.

The school has an application with the Department for an extension which has been assigned a band rating of 2.4. The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. Notwithstanding the purchase of the school's prefabs, I assure the Senator that the application will continue to be considered for progression through the school building and modernisation programme. However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time. The purchase of the previously rented prefabs at this school is in no way an attempt by the Department to force a prefab solution onto the school on a permanent basis but rather an effort to achieve better value for money for the taxpayer.