Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 October 2021
280. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education the total costs her Department has incurred on temporary accommodation land, prefabs and former educational buildings in County Wicklow in each of the years 2017 to 2020 and to date in 2021, by municipal district in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49393/21]
View answerI wish to confirm to the Deputy that the total current costs incurred by my Department on the rental of temporary accommodation, land, prefabs and former educational buildings in County Wicklow in each of the years 2017 to 2020 and to date in 2021 is detailed in the following table.
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Grand Total |
|
€770,857 |
€1,194,777 |
€1,543,226 |
€1,828,611 |
€5,872,840 |
€11,210,312 |
A breakdown of the figures by municipal district is not readily available.
As the Deputy will appreciate, within the context of a rapidly increasing school population, my Department's priority is to ensure that every child will have access to a physical school place. In this regard, it is sometimes necessary to make use of rented temporary accommodation in order 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.
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, or as part of new projects approved under the Additional School Accommodation scheme.
