Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 222: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount spent within his Department for 2006, 2007 and 2008 in respect of the rental costs of temporary accommodation for schools; if he will estimate the expected amount for 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7834/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The amount spent on renting temporary accommodation for schools, including — but not limited to — prefabricated accommodation for each of the years 2006 to 2008 is as follows:

2006: €24.5m

2007: €35.5m

2008: €52.86m.

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.

It will continue to be necessary for prefabricated accommodation to be provided because competing priorities mean that it will not always be possible to have a permanent accommodation solution in place in a short timeframe. Following the delivery of just on 500 additional classrooms at primary level alone in 2008, I anticipate that the overall spend on temporary accommodation for 2009 will be reduced to around €48m.