Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Within the context of a rapidly increasing school population combined with arriving Ukrainian children, the Department of Education'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.

The timing and duration of the accommodation need is also considered in determining the optimum accommodation solution – a short-term accommodation requirement does not require a long-term accommodation solution. 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.

The vast majority of schools using rented prefabricated accommodation 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 including that of arriving Ukrainian children means that accommodation requirements can vary locally and 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.

Attached is the cost spent on rental of modular or prefab classrooms/prefab buildings over the last 5 years in tabular form.