Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 1376: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of prefabs currently in use by primary schools and post-primary schools in County Tipperary; and the number of learners who are being taught in prefabs in the primary, secondary, adult and further education sectors. [29627/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department. However, if the Deputy wishes to request details on a specific school, my officials will provide the required information. 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 focus within my Department is to empower schools to resolve their accommodation needs, wherever possible, by way of permanent accommodation. In order to reduce the amount of temporary/prefabricated accommodation at primary level and to upgrade existing facilities, two new initiatives, the Permanent Accommodation Initiative and the Small School Initiative, were launched in 2003 on a pilot basis. The purpose of these initiatives was to allow primary schools to undertake a permanent solution to their classroom accommodation needs and to achieve the best value for money as opposed to the provision of temporary accommodation.

The feedback has in general been very positive, the number of schools participating has increased year on year and many schools are anxious to be included. In order to maintain this momentum I invited 210 schools to participate in these schemes in 2006. This brings to 520 the number of schools invited to participate schemes since 2003. As a result of these schemes the amount spent on the purchase of prefabricated buildings has been significantly reduced.