Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 723: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of money which has been spent on the renting, leasing or purchasing of demountable, temporary accommodation in the past five years; if her Department arranges this through the Department of Finance; the tendering process which is in operation and the frequency in which it is reviewed; the length of time the arrangement lasts; the average period of renting or leasing; and the number of units which have been rented and leased over five, eight and ten years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22496/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's records are held on a calendar year basis and the information which I am providing reflects that position. In the last five years my Department has spent €39.1million on the rental of temporary school premises. The breakdown of this expenditure by year is €4,002,339 in 2000, €6,039,060 in 2001, €8,402,140 in 2002, €9,329,997 in 2003 and €11,306,660 in 2004. This expenditure is not categorised by accommodation type and I cannot therefore readily identify for the Deputy the portion of the expenditure that may relate to demountable temporary accommodation.

In the last five years my Department has spent €73.5 million on the purchase of prefabricated buildings in the primary and post-primary sectors. The breakdown of the expenditure by year is €4,407,981 in 2000, €9,108,090 in 2001, €21,463,576 in 2002, €25,838, 453 in 2003 and €12,711,802 in 2004. This expenditure represents less than 5% of the total expenditure on school buildings between 2000 and 2004. The total spent between 2000 and 2004 on primary and post-primary school buildings including PPP projects at second level amounted to €1.6 billion.

This expenditure was for the supply and installation of prefabricated buildings including associated site works and other costs such as for compliance with planning permission conditions, professional fees, connections for water, electricity and sewage. The demand for additional accommodation in schools has risen significantly over the last number of years mainly due to the rapid expansion in teacher numbers particularly in the area of special needs, the growth in the school-going population in rapidly developing areas and the demands to cater for diversity through the recognition of new Gaelscoileanna and Educate Together schools.

The current focus within my Department is to empower schools to resolve their accommodation needs, wherever possible. In order to reduce the amount of temporary accommodation at primary level a new initiative was launched in 2003. The purpose of this initiative is to allow primary schools to undertake a permanent solution to their classroom accommodation needs and to achieve the best value for money. The feedback from the 20 schools in that pilot initiative was very positive and the initiative was expanded to include 44 additional primary schools in 2004. Over 70 schools have been invited to participate in this initiative in 2005.

The Department of Finance is not directly involved in the procurement of temporary accommodation. My Department issues guidance to schools in respect of the tendering process which is in compliance with public procurement procedures. Where school authorities are given approval to rent temporary accommodation on the basis of proven need the arrangement stays in place while that need exists or until such time as the need is met by a more permanent solution.

The information requested by the Deputy in respect of the number of individual units rented at each school is not readily available. However, if the Deputy wishes to request details in respect of any particular school my officials will provide the information required.