Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I have raised this issue to seek clarification on the current position regarding the acquisition of a site to facilitate the amalgamation of the Cahir boys national school and Our Lady of Mercy national school in Cahir, County Tipperary. I wish to know whether the site can be acquired by the State from the Mercy Order under the redress scheme. These are two major schools in Cahir town which is the fastest growing district electoral division in south Tipperary according to the previous census. The boys school caters for 180 boys and the girls for 298 girls, including junior and senior infants. The staff, boards of management and school community provide an excellent service to local families despite that they operate in facilities which are inadequate, inappropriate and not fit for purpose.

The boys school, established in 1964, pays €40,000 a year for rented portakabins while the girls school pays more than €20,000. The Sisters of Mercy some time ago provided figures which indicated the amount of interest paid over the past 20 years alone would have paid for the site. The need for the amalgamation of the schools has been long acknowledged and has been agreed locally by both school communities. The adjacent site, which is between both schools and is in the ownership of the Sisters of Mercy, is the only site which is suitable and amenable to both schools.

The acquisition of this land is an urgent matter and I hope the subject can be progressed. It must be progressed. I have been dealing with this issue since 2007 and before as a member of the county council. I met the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Hanafin, in Thurles with a deputation. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, visited the school when he was Minister for Education and Skills, saw it at first hand and gave some hope. There was a blockage at departmental level with officials which was very unfair to the Sisters of Mercy. The officials insisted they were not engaging in negotiations. The head bursar, whom I complimented, gave me correspondence which she sent on two occasions to the Department, but it got lost somewhere in the bowels of the organisation. She was willing to sell the site and facilitate the need for the school.

Land prices have decreased since then. I have asked previous Minister and the current one whether the site could be included in the redress scheme which has been agreed by the Sisters of Mercy and the Government. The site must be acquired in order that we can give some hope to the teachers and pupils in the school and the wider community that a proper, modern and decent building in which to educate the young children of Cahir and the surrounding areas every day will be built.

The situation is wholly inadequate. I thank the Department officials who having engaged with me, previous Ministers and the current one but action is now needed because the situation is perilous. If the site is acquired, the planning and design process will have to be started and the many other stages will have to be gone through. The site between the two schools is lying idle and is in the ownership of the Sisters of Mercy who are willing to sell it at a reasonable rate with independent valuations or whatever. Correspondence sent to me from the Department indicated the order was not willing to sell or was not engaging, which is an injustice. The information was misleading and very unfair to the Sisters of Mercy who have given tremendous service to the town and community of Cahir in education and many other areas over the past century.

It is time this was brought to a head and meaningful negotiations took place. Whatever officials are needed should visit the area and try to do the deal. It was recently suggested that moneys have been returned to the Department of Finance from the Department of Education and Skills. Cases like this are held up by bureaucracy. It is unfair, unacceptable and must be dealt with.

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