Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 613: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the cost for each of the years 2002 to 2007 for the provision of annual rental or lease of prefabs for classroom and facilities at primary and second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46802/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The amount spent on renting temporary accommodation, including — but not limited to — prefabricated accommodation for each of the years 2002 to 2007 is as follows:

2007: €35.5m (5.49% of total spend of €647m on school buildings);

2006: €24.5m (4.95% of total spend of €495m on school buildings);

2005: €15.7m (3.1% of total spend of €501m);

2004: €11.3m (3.4% of total spend of 333m);

2003: €9.4m (2.9% of total spend of €327m);

2002: €8.4m (2.4% of total spend of €344m).

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. It should be noted that the amount spent on rental accommodation was still only 5.5% of the total investment in school buildings in 2007.

It should also be noted that temporary accommodation is not limited to prefabs and can also involve the rental of high quality buildings.