Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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485. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration is being given to a submission from a post-primary school (details supplied) in County Cork; if a departmental inspector has visited the school to see the quality of its current classroom accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8980/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The school, to which the Deputy refers, has made an application to my Department for large scale capital funding for an extension and refurbishment of its existing building. The current status of all applications, including for the school in question, may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie.

As the Deputy will be aware, the school's request must be considered in the context of the financial constraints imposed by the need, as outlined in my Department's Five Year Capital Investment programme, to prioritise available funding for the provision of essential school accommodation to meet demographic demand. My Department's Five Year Construction Plan outlines the major school projects that are scheduled to commence construction over the duration of the Plan. As it is not possible to indicate when a project for the school, in question, can be progressed, a technical inspection is not been prioritised for the school concerned.

In the interim, my Department approved funding in March 2014 to the school in question to provide a one classroom ASD Unit. It is understood that the project has not yet commenced on site.

My Department also considers applications on an ongoing basis from individual schools for funding to meet an immediate accommodation requirement because of increased enrolments and where an additional teacher is being appointed.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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486. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a list of the schools in County Galway using prefabricated units; the number of prefabricated units per school; the number of prefabricated units that have been replaced, by school; her plans to alleviate the problems with prefabricated units; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8984/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Details of primary and post primary schools in Co Galway that have rented prefab accommodation, together with the number of rented units, are contained in the following table. Please note that a prefab unit may consist of one or more classrooms and/or ancillary accommodation. Schools whose major projects are being progressed under my Department's 5-Year capital programme and schools included in the Prefab Replacement Initiatives are highlighted on the attached document.

13 schools in Co Galway were invited to participate in my Department's Prefab Replacement Initiatives with an allocation of €2.9m. To date 7 school authorities have successfully completed their projects, 1 school authority has withdrawn and the remainder are expected on site shortly. The total amount of grant aid issued to date is in excess of €1.3m. Details of all schools included in the Prefab Replacement Initiatives is available on my Department's website.

My Department's over-riding objective is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place and that our school system is in a position to cope with increasing pupil numbers. To ensure that this is achieved, the delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years.

Prefab rental in Primary & Post primary schools in Co Galway - February 2015

** Included in 5 Year Programme.