The system for the allocation and prioritisation of spending on school buildings prompted much public disquiet in 2002, the Comptroller and Auditor General told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee yesterday.
Mr John Purcell said letters sent out to schools from the Department of Education at the time had also led to unnecessary confusion. This in turn prompted a lot of representations to his department. In a written report he stated that the Department of Education and Science's decision to issue schools with a timeframe that could be changed through circumstances and conditions was "considered imprudent".
However, he said he was satisfied the system employed was fair.
Overall, the Department was moving towards adopting a more proactive approach with the publication of transparent lists.
Earlier, Mr John Dennehy, secretary general of the Department of Education, said there was a "major historic deficit" in relation to the adequacy of primary school accommodation.
While he refused to accept that the system in 2002 was not fair, he did believe it needed to be improved.
However, he said some of the criticism at the time was unfair. Those schools put forward as highest priority in 2002 were a "best call" on all known facts.
"The challenge for the Department, however, is to mediate competing priorities within funding constraints."
He said the key factor impacting on the rate of progress on announced projects in 2002 was the budgetary position for 2003, which meant that less money than had been anticipated was available.
He added that 19 of the 24 large-scale primary projects which did not proceed to tender and construction in 2002 had since begun to do so in 2004.