Pre-fab classrooms cost taxpayers €24m per year

MORE than €24 million a year is being “squandered” on prefab classrooms because ministers have failed to get a grip on the pupil boom, Fine Gael warned last night.

The party’s education spokesman, Brian Hayes, said spending on temporary learning accommodation has tripled in the past five years.

“Over €70m of taxpayers’ money has been squandered in this way in the past eight years. Money which would have been better used on providing permanent school buildings,” he said.

The education department hit back saying some €540m was being spent on school buildings this year, with only a fraction going into temporary structures.

Fine Gael insisted that pupils educational chances were being dimmed by learning in grim pre-fabs.

“Prefabs are simply not suitable for long-term use as classrooms. This is a direct result of a lack of planning. New schools and buildings have not been provided, leaving an accommodation deficit that is being filled by spending millions on prefabs,” he said.

Figures released by the Government to Mr Hayes, show spending on prefabs going from €8.4m in 2002 to €9.4m in 2003, 11.3m in 2004, €15.7m in 2005, and €24.5m last year — giving a total of €70.3m over the four-year period.

Mr Hayes said Education Minister Mary Hanafin was happy to let pupils languish in pre-fabs.

A spokesperson for Ms Hanafin rejected the claims.

“We will be spending €540m on buildings this year for to accommodate 17,000 new places and nearly all of it will go on permanent buildings.”