€1.3bn spent on school prefabs in five years, PAC hears

Updated / Thursday, 18 Jun 2026 11:16

The Public Accounts Committee heard that prefabs were not conducive to learning or teaching

The Public Accounts Committee has heard that €1.3 billion has been spent on modular buildings for schools in the past five years.

Labour TD Eoghan Kenny, a former teacher, told the committee that prefabs, as he called them, were not conducive to teaching or learning.

He accepted that prefabs might be needed sometimes, but he said the State was now going down the route of providing long-term school accommodation in modular buildings.

He said it was not a long-term solution for schools, he described it as "ineffective and inappropriate" to house children in prefabs, particularly those with special educational needs.

"What is the value for money there?" he asked, and queried the procurement process.

Mr Kenny said he did not think any school principal would choose prefabs over bricks and mortar and said he was worried the Department of Education was moving towards the use of prefabs as opposed to providing long-term solutions.

He described them as "a blight on communities across this country, they’re a blight on school communities and it’s an ineffective way for students to be learning in and it’s unfair on students and parents and particularly teachers ... almost to be put into sheds to teach in, I don’t agree with it."

He also raised concerns about the value-for-money aspect of prefabs.

Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly said it was an "irresponsible approach" and cited St. Patrick’s school in Kildare where the lifespan of these prefabs failed teachers and communities.

He said older prefabs were being replaced with newer prefabs, rather than proper buildings.

Mr Farrelly said PAC couldn’t stand over this approach.

The Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy said he would expect the Department to demonstrate that modular buildings do provide value-for-money.