Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €3.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 840 school building projects, and with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects.

It is important to have a range of delivery mechanisms for delivering school accommodation to support the current very strong and ambitious roll out of school building projects. This is particular relevant given the overall challenging construction sector market. A number of factors are considered by my Department in determining the most appropriate construction method to meet a school’s accommodation requirements, including the timing and duration of that accommodation need, and other school-specific factors.

The Deputy will be aware that my Department has broadened its delivery streams and is utilising Modern Methods of Construction, including Modular Accommodation, as well as traditional construction delivery methods. Modular accommodation has particular advantages in terms of overall timelines and also climate impact in that they generally use decarbonised heating sources. Where there is a need for accelerated delivery of such accommodation my Department utilises Modern Methods of Construction, including my Department's Modular Accommodation Framework, to meet the accommodation need.

In addition, my Department has put new project manager support in place to assist schools with the delivery of this critical modular accommodation. All of these supports help ensure that the administrative burden for schools on procuring and delivering modular accommodation solutions is significantly eased.

The Modular Accommodation Framework solution:

• has significant benefits in terms of delivery timelines;
• minimises the impact of the project on the operation of the school;
• provides quality and sustainable accommodation that meets building regulation requirements and is Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) compliant; and
• facilitates climate proofing of the accommodation, given that the modular accommodation has the added benefit of utilising decarbonised heating sources which should also help with the school’s energy profile and costs.

School building projects at construction involve an overall State investment of over €1.2 billion. We also have over 210 modular accommodation projects that are very well advanced for delivery or at construction stage. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.

Attached is the cost spent on purchased prefab and modular accommodation over the last 5 years in tabular form

	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Prefab/Modular Spend (€m’s)	4.6m	15.7m	71.6m	198.5m	281.9m