The State has paid out more than €45 million for 51 sites for new schools around the State in the past 5½ years - including several multimillion euro payments to property developers and religious orders.
In an indication of the impact of the recent property boom, new Department of Education figures supplied to The Irish Times show that more than half of this money went on seven sites in Dublin, and one in Newbridge, Co Kildare.
By comparison, similarly sized sites located outside the Leinster region cost only a fraction of the figure paid for these school sites. The department has acknowledged that it has seen a significant increase in the overall amount it had to pay for school sites between 1999 and July 2005.
The figures, published for the first time, include two payments totalling €5.3 million to property developer Castlethorn Construction this year for sites in Stepaside, Dublin, and Griffeen Valley, Dublin, and €2.9 million paid to Park Developments for a 2.5 acre site in Diswellstown, Dublin 15.
Another well-known property company, Menolly Properties Ltd, also received some €1.65 million in 2002 for a site for the Mary Mother of Hope national school in Dublin 15.
Other payments were made to religious orders such as the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the Loreto Sisters in Navan, and the Presentation Order and the Christian Brothers.
But the largest single payment made to a religious order was €5.3 million for a 2.35-acre site, plus buildings, for the Mary Immaculate special needs school in the exclusive Beechpark area of Stillorgan in Dublin. This site was bought last year from the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross of Liege.
Only a seven-acre Gaelscoil site and buildings in Newbridge, Co Kildare - bought for €6.3 million in 2002 from the Japanese Sundai Ireland International school - cost more than this figure. Thirty-nine of the sites purchased by the department were for primary schools, with 12 new sites bought for secondary schools. But the largest site acquired by the department was at second level, where it paid €4.2 million in 2003 for almost 27 acres in Portlaoise to four individuals - Raymond Hume, Peter Conlan, Robert Conlan and John Field.
This reflects the fact that primary schools tend to be smaller in size, but also require more sites than second-level schools in addition to the need to provide sites for the growing gaelscoil and multidenominational Educate Together sector.
One of the most striking aspects of the list is the difference in the prices paid for similar sized sites around the State. For example, Ballinasloe Urban District Council received €343,000 last year for a 2.3-acre site for Gaelscoil Ballinasloe, compared to a sum of €1.4 million paid to South Dublin County Council for another 2.3-acre site for Archbishop Ryan National School in Lucan.
This indicates that, given budget considerations, it may be easier to receive departmental approval for a site outside the major population centres because they are less expensive.
Among the other prices paid for sites are: