Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate

9:30 am

Mr. Hubert Loftus:

The number of strands relates to the undertakings we get from patrons when doing capital investment in terms of the new school lease with Minister-owned properties, finalising that lease with the Chief State Solicitor's office, doing the engagement with stakeholders and moving into implementation stage now. Where it is patron-owned, the deed of confidant in charge is where we have engaged with the Chief State Solicitor's office. One of the things on which I have engaged with the Chief State Solicitor's office and my own team is that we take a more strategic approach on this. A patron or trust might own maybe 100 schools. Rather than doing individual legal agreements for 100 schools 100 times, I have tasked our team to see whether we can be more strategic and have an overarching agreement that can manage and do that in a more strategic way without having an army of work or army of cost sitting in the Chief State Solicitor's office, Department of Education or the Property Registration Authority. Equally, it is far more efficient for the patrons as well. That is the area we are actively engaging with the-----