Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 389: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the percentage of primary school pupils and secondary school pupils currently being taught in prefabs. [39306/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department. However, I can assure the Deputy that the Government has made a record investment of over €2 billion in the period from 2000 to 2005 in upgrading existing school infrastructure and providing new school accommodation at both first and second-level. Over 6,500 projects were delivered in this period, including 76 new school buildings, 380 major refurbishment/extensions and over 6,050 smaller scale projects. In addition the investment covered site purchases, the minor works grant issued to all primary schools annually, dust/asbestos and radon remediation programmes, science and technology initiatives, contingency works and grants for the purchase of furniture and equipment. This year alone €506m is being invested in schools and this will deliver over 1,300 building projects.

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 on empowering schools to resolve their accommodation needs, wherever possible, by way of permanent accommodation. In order to reduce the amount of temporary/prefabricated accommodation, to upgrade existing facilities and to achieve the best value for money as opposed to the provision of temporary accommodation, two new initiatives, the Permanent Accommodation Initiative and the Small School Initiative were launched in 2003 on a pilot basis. Due to their success they have become a permanent feature of my Schools Building and Modernisation Programme. As a result the amount spent on the purchase of prefabricated buildings in has been significantly reduced.

The infrastructural investment needs in schools will continue into the future. Building on the record investment in recent years the Government's has decided to provide €3.9 billion in capital funding for the education sector over the next 5 years. This is proof of its continuing commitment to educational infrastructure and will allow my Department to continue to take a pro-active approach in modernising school accommodation throughout the country.