Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy McHugh for raising this matter. I am making this reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin.

In October 2006, the trustees of Seamount College, namely, the Sisters of Mercy, announced their intention to withdraw as providers of education in the Kinvara area and to close Seamount College. The latter is a voluntary secondary school and decisions such as this are within the remit of the patron body, the Mercy Sisters. The trustees decided that closure was to be on a phased basis with no intake of first years from September 2007, culminating in a full closure in 2012 and thus allowing the junior students to have a transition year, if feasible, and complete their leaving certificate examinations. The trustees have confirmed directly to the Department that the current site at Seamount College will not be available for the provision of post-primary education once the college closes.

Following the announcement of a phased closure by the trustees, a local action group met the Department and outlined its concerns. Officials of the school planning section of the Department met separately with representatives of Gort community school who outlined their concerns in respect of the trustees' announcement.

With regard to a decision by a patron body to close a school, the main role of the Department in a school closure is to ensure the best interests of the pupils are looked after in the period up to the closure and that there will be sufficient pupil places in existing schools in the general area for pupils who would have normally enrolled in the closing school. Having considered the immediate implications of the decision by the Sisters of Mercy, the Department will facilitate the enrolment in Gort community school of students from the Kinvara area by amending the existing catchment area. To facilitate an increase in enrolments at Gort community school, any additional accommodation for the school will be treated as a matter of priority by the Department.

The Department recently met the authorities of Gort community school with a view to agreeing the extent of the additional accommodation required. In addition, the Department will be reviewing the overall accommodation requirements at post-primary level in the south Galway area to identify what additional provision is required in the longer term.

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