Fine Gael TD Seán Kyne said he hoped the Government would end "the scourge of prefabricated school buildings'' by the end of its term of office.
He said he knew of one building which was leaking and cost more to heat than the rest of the school building.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said that under the prefab replacement initiative almost €60 million had been approved to replace 575 rented prefabricated units relating to 216 schools. The permanent accommodation would provide modern, high-quality accommodation for pupils and teachers.
Capitation grants
He said it was open to schools with purchased prefabricated accommodation in need of repair to use their capitation grants in the case of primary schools, to undertake repairs
Where prefabricated buildings had significant structural issues it was open to the schools to submit an application to the department for their replacement, said Mr Quinn.
Applications were considered on a case-by-case basis within the funding available.
Mr Kyne said he commended the Minister on the prefab replacement programme, with much good work done and many new classrooms built.
He said the school he was aware of had submitted an application and he hoped it would be considered favourably in future rounds of funding.
Mr Quinn replied: "If the deputy can persuade the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to release more money to me, I will have more prefabricated buildings replaced.''
