Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the list, on a county basis, of all schools that are currently using prefabs as classrooms; and the age of these prefabs. [16857/08]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools currently using prefabs. [16858/08]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 146: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the annual cost associated with the rental of prefabs for both primary and secondary schools. [16859/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 to 146, inclusive, together.

While comprehensive information is held on individual school files, my Department does not yet have these details available in a format that provides readily accessible cumulative information on the overall position regarding temporary accommodation. However, this issue is being addressed as a matter of urgency and work on compiling a comprehensive database of such information is well advanced. This work is part of a general review of rental policy being undertaken. Information is being collated on approximately 900 schools which have received approval from the Department for temporary accommodation, including but not limited to prefabs. This will be used to produce a database of information which will be maintained on an ongoing basis and will inform my Department's future decision-making in this area. I anticipate this work will be completed shortly.

The Deputy will be aware that demand for additional accommodation in schools has risen significantly over the last number of years, with the appointment of 6,000 extra teachers in the primary sector alone since 2002. In considering the need to provide extra resource and other teachers to schools in recent years, the Government could have decided to make children wait until permanent accommodation could be provided. However, we prioritised putting the extra teachers into schools as soon as possible.

Against this background, my Department has nonetheless managed to keep expenditure on temporary accommodation low. My Department spent €4.3m on the purchase and €35.5m on the rental of temporary accommodation in 2007. It should be noted that the amount spent on rental and purchased accommodation in 2007 was only 6.2% of the total investment in school buildings in 2007. This compares with 10.8% in 2003. It should also be noted that temporary accommodation is not limited to prefabs and can also involve the rental of high quality buildings.