Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of new prefabs which will be allocated to schools under the estimated €100 million to be spent on prefabs in 2009; the amount which will be spent on rental costs for existing prefabs; the number of schools which have temporary accommodation of some kind; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39494/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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To date in 2009, 210 schools have been approved funding for the purchase of prefabricated classroom(s) with the option of providing a permanent solution. The latest figures available show an estimated cost of €28 million for these approvals. 61 of the approved schools have indicated to my Department that they intend purchasing prefabs and 60 intend providing a permanent solution. The remaining schools have not yet indicated their preference. Until such time as they do so it will not be possible to state how much of this year's approvals will be related to new prefabs, however I can say that it is unlikely to exceed €20 million. It is anticipated that the rental costs for 2009 will be in the region of €39 million, a saving of €14 million on the 2008 outturn, however I will be in a position to give actual detail at the end of the year.

Around 830 schools are on my Department's rental list at present. In order to improve the information systems available to my Department in relation to primary and post-primary schools, my Department's Forward Planning Section uses Geographical Information System technology which contains a certain level of information on all schools in the country, at both primary and post-primary level. To further expand and improve the capabilities of the system, arrangements are being made to conduct a survey of accommodation at primary and post-primary level that will be linked to other information held in the GIS including information. Work on the development of an on-line facility for the compilation of the inventory of school accommodation is well advanced.

The on-line facility will enable schools to provide information about their accommodation, including its composition in terms of permanent and temporary structures, electronically to my Department. My Department will also be collecting information on the age of existing school accommodation including both purchased and rented prefabs. It is expected that the facility will be made available to all schools to start uploading information before the end of 2009. When all the information has been received from schools, the Inventory will provide key data and statistics on the existing school building stock throughout the country at both primary and post-primary levels.