Ms Fionuala McGeever:

To answer the Deputy, the school is managed by Tipperary Education and Training Board. It was transferred to us some years back and the entire centre is managed by Tusla. There are 14 staff in the school; teachers and special needs assistant, SNAs. I understand that in the entire centre there is approximately 60 staff. I am not 100% sure because we do not manage the care side. At this moment in time we are unaware of Tusla's plans. We have sought meetings on several occasions over the last weeks with Tusla. Only yesterday Tusla wrote to us. A meeting has been organised for Friday week. Some weeks back we also notified the Department on concerns we had with plans that Tusla may or may not have regarding the future development of the centre. It is currently a detention centre. It is currently a centre where young people are placed through the courts. By that very nature, students are at the centre for varying periods of time. We do not know what the future plans are for the centre and we have asked for clarification.