Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Coláiste Mhuire Marino is one of five privately owned denominational colleges of education recognised by the Department of Education and Science for the purpose of training primary teachers. The Department funds Coláiste Mhuire Marino on a per student basis as certified annually by the college president. It is estimated that some €5 million will be allocated to the college in 2005. It is important to note that the Department is not prescriptive in how this money is spent by the college. It prescribes only that, in accordance with regulations governing all public expenditure, the moneys are spent in accordance with the purposes for which they are allocated, in this case teacher training.

Coláiste Mhuire Marino and the Froebel College of Education are funded on a per student basis. The Church of Ireland College, Rathmines and the two colleges of education for home economics, St. Catherine's College, Blackrock and St. Angela's College, Sligo, are funded on a budget basis, which involves the colleges submitting annual returns and financial projections for agreement by the Department.

It is understood the accounts of Coláiste Mhuire Marino and the Marino Institute of Education are audited by a private sector auditor. This is a common practice for privately owned third level institutions. As Coláiste Mhuire Marino receives public funding for teacher training, Deputies should also note that its annual accounts may be subjected to an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. This position is similar to his role vis-À-vis many other bodies and agencies in receipt of public funds.

As matters stand, there is no information to suggest that any part of the funding provided to Coláiste Mhuire Marino for the training of teachers was not used for that intended purpose. If anyone has any information to the contrary, it should be forwarded to the Department of Education and Science for immediate consideration and investigation, if necessary. It would be a matter of grave concern to the Minister if funding provided to Coláiste Mhuire Marino was not used for the training of teachers.

The Department of Education and Science has confirmed that it has received some correspondence from Brother Rory Geoghegan, a Christian Brother who formerly taught in Coláiste Mhuire Marino. This correspondence was received last Friday, 29 April and is under consideration. I assure Deputies it is being treated as important and urgent. The correspondence raises a number of issues concerning the management and operation of Coláiste Mhuire Marino and its relationship with Marino Institute of Education, in particular staffing matters and apparent interpersonal issues. Given the nature of the correspondence, it is not appropriate to discuss the contents of the letter. The correspondence has been passed to the trustees of Marino Institute of Education with a request that they provide their response to the issues raised by Brother Geoghegan.

The importance and urgency of the matter have been emphasised to the trustees. The issues involved internal matters concerning the relationship between Coláiste Mhuire Marino and Marino Institute of Education, a number of which relate to employee-employer relationships. As mentioned previously in regard to the president of Coláiste Mhuire, the Department of Education and Science cannot have a role in the individual employer-employee relationships of a privately owned third level institution such as Coláiste Mhuire. A similar position will also apply in the case of Brother Geoghegan, given that he has been employed in Coláiste Mhuire as an employee of Marino Institute of Education.

A meeting has been scheduled for next week between officials in the Department of Education and Science and the trustees of Marino Institute of Education. At that meeting a number of matters relating to the resignation of Ms Máirtín and Brother Geoghegan's correspondence will be discussed. At this stage I do not wish to pre-empt the discussions between the Department and the Marino Institute of Education trustees by dwelling on the matter any further but I assure the Deputies that the Minister for Education and Science is well aware of the concerns in regard to the resignation of Ms Caoimhe Máirtín, president of the college, and the issues surrounding the resignations are being treated as urgent. The Minister will be better informed after the meeting next week and able to comment further.

See this speech in context