€15m Allocated To Replace 115 Prefab Classrooms

Senator Mary Moran has welcomed the announcement by Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, that €15 million has been allocated for 2013/2014, to replace 115 prefab classrooms in forty six schools, and will provide permanent resource rooms and classrooms for some 2,650 students throughout the country.

Senator Moran said: "The initial prefab replacement initiative announced last year providing for the replacement of 458 prefabs has been a great success with €23.6 million spent to date, thirty projects completed and a further one hundred on site. This further announcement will be a win-win situation for everyone, and will result in schools having better accommodation for students, and will provide savings for both schools and the Exchequer. Indeed savings of almost €5 million per annum will be achieved under the previous initiative and a further €2 million will be saved when this initiative is completed. It will reduce the number of rented prefabs in our schools by 570 – a 37% reduction over just two years. This latest initiative will also provide an estimated 300 direct and 60 indirect jobs.


"This welcome announcement comes just days after the announcement of twenty eight major school building projects following the additional €50 million secured by the Department of Education and Skills as part of the ‘Investing in Infrastructure and Jobs' package."

(CD/MH)