Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I welcome that the Minister of State and the Department have agreed in principle to lease the existing Seamount school in Kinvara. We need clarity on an agreed lease with the Sisters of Mercy and the trustees. They have given a ten-year extension to the period of the lease to allow the school to continue. They want to leave the idea of trustees of the school. There is confusion as to who will be responsible for the appointment of trustees during the period of the lease. Under the 1998 Act it is clear that the trusteeship of Seamount during the lease period is the responsibility of the trustees of the existing school as a voluntary Catholic school. Correspondence involving the acquisitions section of the Department shows confusion and indicates responsibility for identifying and recognising the new trustees for this enterprise will reside with the Department of Education and Science. I should appreciate if the Minister of State would give clarity as to who has responsibility for the appointment of the trustees in these circumstances.

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