Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, cannot be present to reply to this matter and she asked me to reply to this matter on her behalf.

I wish the three Deputies well and thank them for raising this matter. I fully appreciate the impact and importance this decision has on the local community. I take this opportunity to emphasise to the House that Seamount College is a voluntary secondary school and decisions such as this are within the remit of the patron body, that is the Sisters of Mercy.

Seamount College, Kinvara is a girls' secondary school with a current enrolment of approximately 240 girls. I understand that boys from Kinvara in the main attend Gort community college, which is a co-educational facility.

On 12 October 2006 the school trustees, the Sisters of Mercy, western province announced their intention to withdraw as providers of education in the Kinvara area and to close Seamount College. They informed the Department that they had taken this decision following a comprehensive review of the voluntary secondary schools within the western province of their order. They decided the closure would be on a phased basis with no intake of first year students in September 2007. The annual enrolment of the first year students stands at approximately 40.

As part of the implementation process following from this decision, the trustees have decided not to appoint a new board of management and to appoint a single manager to manage the school in the interim and to oversee the phased closure process. The term of office of the existing board of management expired on 14 October 2006. Again, this is primarily a matter for the trustees.

With regard to a decision by a patron body to close a school, the Department's concern is to ensure that there are sufficient pupil places to meet demand in a given area. From a school planning perspective and based on data available to the Department there appears to be an already well established trend of boys from the Kinvara area attending the neighbouring Gort community school. More recently, there would appear to be an increase in the number of girls also attending the community school. Gort community school is a co-educational facility and, at present, the Mercy Sisters also serve as trustees to this school. The school was built in the mid-1990s with an overall capacity of 800. As of September 2006, enrolment stood at just over 730 students.

I assure the House that the Department is examining the implications of the phased closure with a view to ensuring that the educational needs of the children in the area continue to be met.

The Mercy order has a strong record of achievement at Seamount College over many years and the decision to close is regrettable. However, the order will maintain an educational presence at second level in the area as trustees of Gort community school. The order and the trustees have also indicated to the Department that they intend to liaise with the County Galway Vocational Education Committee regarding provision at Gort community school.

I thank the three Deputies for raising this matter.

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