If permanent schools are built…

Every year, over €50 million in taxpayer’s money is paid to private contractors in rent for the provision of prefabs to schools throughout the country.

Over 50,000 primary school children are being taught in prefabs.

This year the Department of Education has yet to spend almost half, some €331 million, of its 2010 capital budget for school buildings. The Dept. also failed to spend its full allocation last year.

If permanent schools are built somebody will lose out on €50 million per year in prefab rents.

Hundreds of schools operate under Third World conditions, rats, leaks, contaminated water; no heating and chronic lack of equipment and teaching aids.

The matter was discussed on Today with Pat Kenny (for the umpteenth time) last week when he interviewed two school principals who just cannot understand why the Dept/Government is failing to build permanent schools.

If permanent schools are built somebody will lose out on €50 million per year in prefab rents.

On previous occasions, over the last year or so, we heard the following.

A caller from Galway said it costs €17,000 a year to rent a prefab and it must be rented for at least three years.

To buy the same prefabs costs just €50,000. The figures, he said, just don’t add up. Pat Kenny was astonished.

A caller from Waterford said they were fed up with endless bureaucracy and years of waiting. The school committee has decided to go ahead and appoint their own architects in defiance of the Dept.

The caller said that the school building programme was a joke as it can only address schools identified as of a politically high priority.

If permanent schools are built somebody will lose out on €50 million per year in prefab rents.

The principal and committee of Rath school proposed building a school extension to replace the three prefabs that currently cost €47,000 to rent.

The plan would ultimately save the Government over €30,000. They brought the proposal to local TD, John Maloney, who responded as follows:

The proposal from Rath National School would have envisaged a mortgage taken down on the school to provide a new school.

My response to that is the same as the Dept’s that the proposal would not be in keeping with the way funding is allocated for capital programmes based on the very fact that I’m making that it would add to exchequer borrowing that quite clearly the State cannot do.

The principal of the school is puzzled, he cannot understand how the plan could be rejected, it was a win win situation for everybody.

If permanent schools are built somebody will lose out on €50 million per year in prefab rents.

Another school, another plan. €25 million would be borrowed from the bank and re-loaned to the Government at 3% interest.

The Government would then repay the parish over 15 years. So the Government would be getting a cheap loan and the town would get a new school.

The idea was welcomed at first but when the parish made a formal proposal in writing the plan was rejected.

Local TD, John Maloney was on hand to explain in his usual crystal clear fashion:

It was originally turned down, again, in the context of on the one hand the Government accepting the proposal was concerned about the whole issue of value for money and I don’t want to seem to be hiding behind that smokescreen again.

I use it by way of explaining to the public that all of these proposals have to be tested by way of value for money and return to the State and to ensure that there is value for money for the taxpayer.

If permanent schools are built somebody will lose out on €50 million per year in prefab rents.