Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis na Teachtaí as ucht an ábhair seo a ardú. Molaim an Teachta Stanton as an Ghaeilge atá aige a úsáid. Má leanann sé ar aghaidh ag úsáid a chuid Gaeilge, tiocfaidh feabhas air, mar tá neart Gaeilge aige.

The school in question is hugely successful as was outlined by the Deputies, having been granted permanent recognition in 2001 following its provisional recognition in 1999. Deputy O'Keeffe said the school will have 11 full-time teachers next year. It currently has a principal, eight mainstream teachers and two special education needs teachers. Enrolment has increased rapidly to the current level of 200 pupils. The rental cost of the Midleton community centre is grant-aided by the Department at the rate of 95%.

We acknowledge the need of this school and other Gaelscoileanna for permanent accommodation. In recognition of this we asked the property management section of the Office of Public Works, which deals with the acquisition of sites for new schools on behalf of my Department, to set about acquiring a site for the Midleton school. The normal procedure is that when a suitable site is identified and acquired by the OPW, the building project required to provide permanent accommodation for the school in question is considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme at the appropriate time. This process will apply in respect of Gaelscoil Mainistir na Corrán unless a more appropriate alternative solution is put in place.

In this regard officials in my Department have been made aware through the school authority — Deputy O'Keeffe has given me documentation on it also — of an offer from a local developer to provide a site and construct a 16-classroom school for Gaelscoil Mainistir na Corrán at no cost to the Gaelscoil or my Department. Obviously my Department is very willing to discuss and clarify the precise position in this regard and establish the exact details of the offer. Such altruism is very rare. We are anxious to flesh out the details.

Additional information on this proposal has been requested from the school authority and while a response has recently been received, it does not fully address all the queries raised. I understand that the development company has sought a meeting with the school authority with a view to progressing the proposal further and I expect that the school authority will then provide more details on what is proposed following that meeting. When a document detailing the exact proposal is provided to the Department of Education and Science it will receive urgent consideration.

The Department does not have any objection to the school engaging with the developer in the provision of accommodation if there is clearly no cost to either the Gaelscoil or the Department. However, the fact that the Department has been consulted in this regard indicates that this may not be the situation. If State funding is required the Department must be satisfied that public procurement procedures and other regulations are fully observed in the context of any such proposal and that the prioritisation criteria in place is not usurped.

I see the Deputies shaking their heads so I am very interested in hearing the responses to the questions raised.

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