Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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407. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has undertaken a review of all temporary accommodation agreements for schools that have been in operation for more than five years to identify and prioritise areas to commence construction of school premises to ensure value-for-money is achieved in the long-term as per recommendations set out in the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts examination of the 2018 and 2019 Appropriation Accounts for Vote 26 – Education and Skills published February 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54153/21]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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408. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has undertaken a review of all temporary accommodation agreements for schools that have been in operation for more than five years to identify and prioritise areas to commence construction of school premises; if the review process will be completed by year end 2021; if a copy of the findings will be made available to the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts as per recommendations set out in the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts examination of the 2018 and 2019 Appropriation Accounts for Vote 26 – Education and Skills published February 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54154/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 407 and 408 together.

I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is currently undertaking a case by case assessment of the long-term accommodation requirements of all schools that were identified as having rented prefabricated accommodation. This assessment is informed by my Department’s most recent national demographic analysis. It is my intention to complete this assessment in the current year and to provide an update to the Public Accounts Committee on the outcome of this process.

Many of these schools are already part of the pipeline of projects under the school building programme and their prefab accommodation will be addressed as part of these projects. Maximising the opportunities to achieve value for money involves matching, as best as possible, the accommodation requirement with the appropriate accommodation solution. This is relevant for all accommodation projects progressed by the Department.

There are approximately 1,200 school building projects within the current pipeline across the various stages of planning, design, tender and construction - most of which are expected to be either under construction or completed in the period 2021 to 2025. The progression and completion of these projects will make further inroads on the replacement of temporary prefabricated accommodation with knock-on savings on the rental budget.

While it is the policy of my Department to ensure a high standard of permanent accommodation for all schools, in the context of a rapidly increasing school population over the last decade or more it is sometimes necessary to make use of temporary accommodation to meet the accommodation needs of schools. Furthermore, it may also be necessary to make use of temporary rented accommodation 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.

I can, however, confirm that my Department is taking an integrated approach to prefab replacement through the replacement of prefabs as part of all large-scale projects. In addition, since mid-2018 all schools approved for additional accommodation under my Department’s Additional Accommodation Scheme are having their necessary prefabs replaced as part of their additional accommodation project. This integrated approach helps to streamline the delivery of projects for schools.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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409. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will consider conducting a re-evaluation of all current school extension proposals to ensure that consideration is given to projected intake at schools over the next decade as per recommendations set out in the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts examination of the 2018 and 2019 Appropriation Accounts for Vote 26 – Education and Skills published February 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54155/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.

In considering applications, my Department analyses the relevant demographic data in a way that takes account of the significant local and regional variations in demographic trends and enrolment projections across 314 school planning areas (SPAs).

Using school planning area boundaries within my Department’s Geographic Information System (GIS) allows data within those boundaries, including data for enrolments in schools, child benefit and other relevant data to be added to the mapping information, grouped and analysed.

The school planning areas are used in the demographic exercise as a basis for the assessment of areas of growth and to inform recommendations on both applications under the ASA scheme and for the establishment of any new schools required in that school planning area. In urban areas, in particular, data relating to adjacent school planning areas is also used to inform our consideration of requirements.