Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Decisions on amalgamations are, in the first instance, a matter for the respective patron and trustees of the schools concerned. An agreement was reached by the respective patrons in late 2000 to rationalise provision of post-primary provision in the Tuam area to establish a single boys' and single girls' school. The amalgamation in each case is dependent on the availability of suitable accommodation.

On the girls' school it is proposed to provide a new school on a new site. The Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of my Department with regard to site acquisitions generally, is considering a number of site proposals with the intention of acquiring a suitable site to facilitate the development of a new school building. Due to the commercial sensitivities of the site acquisition process, the Deputy will appreciate I am not in a position to comment further. On the boys' school the patron has offered to provide a site to accommodate the new school and is in discussions with the county council regarding the provision of services for the site.

I fully appreciate the sense of urgency felt by the schools and all those involved with them. In this regard it should be noted that the projects have been assigned a band 1 rating by my Department, which will positively influence the timescale for delivery of the project. As soon as the site issue is finalised, the building projects required to deliver the appropriate accommodation will be considered in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2006-2010.

See this speech in context