Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)
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I wish to share time with Deputies Connaughton and Callanan.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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That is agreed.

Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter.

It was with alarm that news of the decision by the Sisters of Mercy to close Seamount College, Kinvara was received in south Galway last Thursday evening. The news came as a total shock to the board of management of the school, the principal, teachers, pupils and parents. It was a shock because this school had been making steady progress over the past number of years. Only two years ago it was deemed to be the top non-fee paying school in the country in The Irish Times list. It has a dedicated principal, a committed staff and a conscientious body of students. Not alone is the school recognised for the high level of achievement academically of its students, but the scope of the extra-curricular activity pursued is also worthy of the highest praise.

The school has currently 243 students on the roll and the predictions are that this figure will rise to 300 in three years. The decision to close Seamount College was a shock because no consultation took place with the board of management, the principal, staff, pupils or parents. Education is supposed to involve a high degree of partnership but partnership was totally absent in the making of this decision.

I record my appreciation of the contribution made by the Sisters of Mercy to this country down the years and in particular I acknowledge their enormous contribution to the delivery of a fulsome education to a large percentage of our female population. Our country and people would be poorer without their contribution.

However, I am deeply disappointed and greatly disturbed by the manner in which this decision was taken. There was no consultation, partnership or apparent realisation of the trauma this decision would cause to all involved. That trauma was clearly evident at a public meeting in the college last Friday night at which the principal, Ms Mulkerrins, a teacher, Ms Kavanagh, pupils, Ms Claire O'Regan and Ms Maeve Simmons, members of the board of management, parents and members of the public expressed their absolute disbelief that a decision of such magnitude could be taken in such a manner.

A number of factors relating to this proposed closure are alarming. The first is the decision and the immediacy of it. There will be no intake of first year students in September 2007. The board of management is being discontinued and a single manager is being appointed. The Minister of State would have to agree that the closure of this school in two and a half years' time is unacceptable. It is an extraordinary decision which needs to be suspended immediately to allow for respectful discussions to take place involving all interested parties.

I ask the Minister of State and her senior colleague to use their good offices to have this decision suspended, to engage with the Sisters of Mercy, the principal and local committee with a view to ensuring Seamount College prospers into the future. I ask the Minister of State and her senior Minister to meet the principal and local committee as a matter of urgency to discuss this issue.

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter.

Last Friday night I attended a hastily convened but hugely successful meeting of parents, teachers and pupils of Seamount College, Kinvara, County Galway. The purpose of the meeting was to let all stakeholders know of the decision conveyed the previous day by the Sisters of Mercy of their intention to discontinue second level education at Seamount. The news was like a bombshell. Nobody had heard mention of it 24 hours previously. Needless to say this news rested uneasily on the shoulders of everybody present. Nobody should be surprised at that because Seamount, an all-girls' school with an enrolment of 243 pupils, has been a wonderful conduit for quality education dating back to the 1920s and as recently as two years ago it received honourable mention in the national press for its excellent examination results.

I want to convey to the House the bewilderment and annoyance felt by people although not at the decision of the Sisters of Mercy to discontinue education at the college, which is their right. I agree with Deputy McHugh that they were outstanding in the delivery of education over the years. People are annoyed that they gave such short notice and did not at least try to provide the excellent principal, her staff and the board of management with a window of opportunity to keep the college open, and for it to be the heartbeat of a thriving and expanding community encompassing Kinvara, Ballinderry and parts of Oranmore and a substantial part of the Minister of State's county.

The Sisters of Mercy will put in place a manager and there will be no intake of first year students next September. That cannot be allowed to happen. There is another issue, namely, the fact this is a small school but that does not mean it is not a good one. I want the Minister of State and her senior Minister to get the message across that the conveyor belt attitude whereby a school is only perceived to be good because it has a large number of students is not correct.

If this school in Kinvara decided to become co-educational, one can imagine what would happen to the numbers, although that is a matter for the parents, but it is an option. There is very little spare capacity in contiguous colleges in and around Kinvara where the students attending this college are likely to go. Irrespective of what the Department of Education and Science will do in this regard, it will cost money. With regard to the value for money aspect, given the planning status of Seamount College property is only for recreational and education purposes, it will be easier for the Department to do a deal with the Sisters of Mercy and with everybody concerned.

Like Deputy McHugh, I ask the Minister of State to engage with the principal and board of management immediately on this matter.

Joe Callanan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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There was huge disappointment following the announcement last week that Seamount College, Kinvara was to close and there was to be no intake of first year students in September 2007. The college is owned and run by the Sisters of Mercy. I pay tribute to the principal, Ms Mulkerrins, and all the staff for the great school it has become, with the achievement of excellent results every year and nobody having failed the junior or leaving certificate last year.

There are 243 students in Seamount College and the area around it has seen a huge increase in population. The other colleges in south Galway, namely in Gort and Oranmore, are full. Therefore, there is a great need for this secondary school to be kept open in Kinvara.

I ask the Minister of State to use her influence with the Sisters of Mercy to allow first year students to enter Seamount College in September 2007. This would give parents and other members of the community in Kinvara breathing space to work out the best way forward to provide for education needs in the Kinvara area. It would also allow the excellent committee set up last Friday night from an attendance at a public meeting of more than 400 people to negotiate with the Sisters of Mercy and the Department of Education and Science to put in place plans for the future of Seamount College. I urge the Minister of State to find a way to provide this necessary period of time in this regard.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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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.