Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome pupils, teachers and parents from Clonkeen College, Dún Laoghaire, who are in the Gallery. A couple of weeks ago at the beginning of May, they were utterly shocked to discover that the school patrons, the Christian Brothers, planned to sell the school playing fields. These 8.5 acres of grass playing pitches adjoin the school and have been used by the school for many years for sport and outdoor activities. The school found that the lands were to be sold to a property developer for private development.

This is a non-fee paying school that draws its pupils from all over the Dún Laoghaire area. The fields are used by the pupils and a host of local community football clubs, GAA clubs and others. These fields are to be taken from the school, thereby substantially degrading the facilities available to it. The Department of Education and Skills invested €10 million on the refurbishment of the school and the management there spent more than €650,000 on draining and fencing off the fields. Approximately €300,000 of the latter was funding paid to the school by the Department. All of that investment is to be lost. A moderate special needs unit built adjacent to the hard court area will have to be relocated and this will impact on the special needs students in the school. It is outrageous. The Christian Brothers are justifying this sale on the grounds that they owe €10 million to the redress board. There is no doubt but that the Christian Brothers should pay their outstanding debt to the redress board in respect of the abuse they were guilty of visiting upon a previous generation of young people. However, it would be a supreme irony and an absolute outrage if the current and future generations of young people are to be made pay for the crimes of the Christian Brothers against previous generations. That would compound one crime against young people with a further crime against them.

I and, more importantly, the parents, the local community, the teachers and the pupils are asking the Minister to intervene urgently before this sale proceeds and they have a number of questions for the Minister. Does the Minister believe it is acceptable for the Christian Brothers to sacrifice and degrade school facilities at the expense of school students? That a patron body of a school is attacking its students and facilities is scandalous. When the Christian Brothers presented the plan - which, clearly, was hatched some time ago - to the school earlier this week, they said that the Minister knew about it. I hope that is not true. Did the Minister know about it and is he aware that the Christian Brothers promised in 2008 that those lands would be given under licence to the school for as long as it is in existence? They had an agreement with the school. Is the Minister aware of that agreement and does he believe it is acceptable that it is being torn up?

The school's students have been betrayed by the Christian Brothers. We are hoping that the Minister will intervene to prevent this sale going ahead and to protect the facilities at the school.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this important issue, which has given rise to some considerable concern. It is important to note that the decision to dispose of land owned by the Congregation of Christian Brothers is a matter for the congregation. It is not a matter over which I have direct control.

In early May, the congregation wrote to me on the wider issue of the transfer of ownership of its playing fields to the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, ERST. Proposals in respect of its playing fields had been made to the Government in 2009 and counter-proposals were made which were not accepted by the congregation or ERST, to which the playing fields are currently licensed. The congregation has indicated its willingness to engage further with my Department on how such a transfer would be reckoned as a redress contribution. That recent correspondence also noted the proposal to dispose of part of the lands at Clonkeen College, a secondary school under the patronage of ERST, and it states that contracts have already been signed with a builder. The congregation’s letter states that its intention is to use part of the proceeds of the disposal to meet its outstanding contribution of €8.8 million relating to the voluntary offer it made in 2009 in response to the findings of the Ryan report. The congregation also advised me that it will have provided the college with 6.5 acres, inclusive of the school, and lands transferred in 2008 and the additional 3.5 acres of playing grounds now transferring.

My Department will be writing to the congregation on the matter of the Clonkeen lands, seeking clarification on a number of points, including whether the land in question is now the subject of a legally-binding agreement with a builder. There is a role for the school patron, the ERST, to ensure that the current and potential future educational needs of the school, including the capacity of the school to meet future enrolment demands, are prioritised. I am not privy to the deliberations or the debates within the congregation on why these particular lands were selected for disposal. As I noted, the congregation has an outstanding redress contribution of €8.8 million. Completion of this contribution at an early date is vital because it will ensure that Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund, will have available to it the full €110 million in cash contributions offered by the religious congregations. I appreciate that the Christian Brothers wish to follow through on their commitments, having already paid €21.2 million of their voluntary cash offer. It would, however, also be very disappointing if the educational needs of the current and future generations of children were compromised in achieving this goal. I would hope that the congregation takes this fully into account during its deliberations.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome the Minister's final comment but, to be honest, we need a little more because that is exactly what is happening. The educational needs of current and future generations of pupils at Clonkeen College, which affects a huge catchment area right across the Dún Laoghaire area, are about to be fundamentally compromised if this deal goes through. As I said, if this sale goes ahead money invested in the school by the Department, public money, will go down the drain. That is unacceptable. A solemn promise that was made by the Christian Brothers to the school in 2008 is being breached. That is also not acceptable.

If, as the Minister said, the current and future needs of pupils should not be comprised by the need and requirement of the Christian Brothers to pay for the redress scheme, which they absolutely should do, then he needs to intervene urgently to stop the sale going ahead. We understand the sale has not concluded. The school agreed a number of years ago, and was happy to do so, to the sale of the ERST building which adjoins the school, plus an acre of adjoining land. Is it acceptable that one school of 95 should take the full hit for the outstanding debt of the Christian Brothers to the redress scheme in terms of the loss of all of their playing fields? The school will not have a Gaelic pitch or any of the other playing facilities it had. It is not fair. This will impact on local clubs, including Cabinteely Football Club, Park Celtic, Bray Wanderers, Cuala, Kilmacud Crokes and others who use those fields. This is an assault on the playing facilities of students and the entire community.

I ask that the Minister intervene to prevent this happening and, if necessary, to have the lands and the school transferred to the State. Clearly, on the basis on this sale, the Christian Brothers cannot be trusted with the protection of the educational needs and facilities of their own students. To my mind, this means that the Minister needs to take this school and the lands back into public ownership and secure these playing fields and the future of the school for current students and future generations.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In the first instance, the ERST is the patron. It must be satisfied that it is making adequate provision for the school and its future needs. As I said, that is the responsibility of the patron and it will have to satisfy itself in its discussions with the congregation that it can do that. Neither I nor my Department are party to an agreement made in 2008. I am not aware of the agreement to which the Deputy refers and, as such, that is a matter on which I cannot comment. As already stated, I will write to the Christian Brothers to seek clarification on a number of points, including to what extent the contracts referred to in the letter I received are legally binding.

The Deputy asked about the status of lands owned by the Christian Brothers and their relationship to the State. He suggests that I have the power to force the transfer of lands to the State but that is not the case. The agreement by the orders after the Ryan report was voluntary in nature and the State did not have the power to compel the transfer of any particular lands. Selling lands is a matter for the congregations involved. I do not have the power to which the Deputy refers.

The issue of playing fields has been opened up again and the Committee of Public Accounts and Comptroller and Auditor General commented adversely on the way they had been withdrawn from an original proposal. The order has written to me indicating that it is open to considering an agreement that had been suggested by a previous Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn. That will have to be examined in due course.