Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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519. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of portacabins per school in County Wicklow over the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52588/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Temporary accommodation in schools is comprised of both rented and purchased prefabricated units. While the Department is aware that some schools are operating some classes in purchased prefabs around the country particularly in the context of the Covid19 related measures (funded by my Department and/or by the school authority), accurate information in respect of purchased prefabs is not readily available across the entire school estate and, therefore, my Department is not in a position to provide the details requested by the Deputy.

As the Deputy will appreciate, within the context of a rapidly increasing school population, my Department's priority is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place. In this regard, it is sometimes necessary to make use of temporary accommodation in order to meet the accommodation needs of schools.

Temporary accommodation may also be required when an immediate or short term need arises. For example, a school may require a temporary building in circumstances where a major school construction project is planned. Such temporary accommodation is removed when the major project concerned is completed. The length of time it is necessary to make use of temporary rented accommodation will vary from project to project.

My Department is taking an integrated approach with the Prefab Replacement Programme through the replacement of prefabricated units as part of large-scale and devolved projects and as part of new projects approved under the Additional School Accommodation scheme.