Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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344. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the annual amounts paid to third parties for the rental of properties for school accommodation from 2010 to date broken down by county, year and school in tabular form. [12905/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Where the rental of land and buildings for school accommodation is deemed necessary by my Department, the contract for this is usually between the school authority and the relevant owner of the property in question. The Department then provides grant aid to the school in respect of the rental costs.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the details of amounts paid to all parties including both school authorities and third parties for the rental of land and buildings for school accommodation by county and year from 2013 is currently being compiled and will be forwarded in the coming days. The Deputy should note that payments to individual schools is commercially sensitive and cannot therefore be provided.

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 rental of properties as interim solutions 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 site or building in circumstances where a major school construction project is planned. The rental is terminated when the major project concerned is completed. The length of time it is necessary to make use of the rented property will vary from project to project.

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 is and will make further inroads on the replacement of rented sites and buildings with knock-on savings on the rental budget.

Many schools based in rented buildings and on rented sites are already part of the pipeline of projects under the school building programme and their longer-term 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.

The changing landscape in relation to enrolments means that accommodation requirements can vary regionally and between short, medium and long-term and this is a relevant factor considered by the Department in determining the type of accommodation solution to be put in place.