THE LABOUR Party has said that more than 2,200 prefabricated buildings are being used in approximately 900 primary schools around the country, with over half of these being used for mainstream classes.
It said new figures, released to it by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe, also indicated that at least 41,000 pupils went to school in prefabs.
Labour's spokesman on education, Ruairí Quinn TD, called on the Government to implement an "emergency" three-year programme to upgrade school buildings by utilising the current surplus capacity in the construction sector.
He said this should be financed by using available capital monies or by borrowing, "if necessary".
Mr Quinn said he had been seeking information on the number of primary school prefabs from the current Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe and his predecessor, Mary Hanafin, since February of this year.
"While I welcome the fact that Minister O'Keeffe has at last made these figures available, there is a question mark over why it has taken so long to do so, and why the data is still incomplete," he said.
Mr Quinn said the information sent to him indicates that there are at least 2,253 prefabs in use in about 900 schools across the country.
He said 1,372 of those prefabs are being used for mainstream classes.
"Presuming there is one class in each prefab and that there are 30 pupils in each class, that means that there are at the very least 41,000 pupils in prefabs," he said. "However, that doesn't take into account that some prefabs accommodate two classrooms . . . In other words, the actual number could be much greater than that."
Mr Quinn said the use of temporary structures, which the department previously revealed cost it €70 million between 2002 and 2006, "is a shocking waste of taxpayers' money".