Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)

I thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House the proposals of the Department of Education and Science regarding the proposed development at Cahergal national school, Tuam, County Galway.

The board of management of Cahergal national school, Tuam, applied to the Department of Education and Science for the provision of four new classrooms to replace existing facilities. In view of the prospective difficulties in providing an optimum range of accommodation in the context of the current site, which measures 0.5 acres, the board of management was requested to explore the possibility of procuring additional land adjacent to the existing site for the purpose of facilitating an extension.

In March 2000, the school authorities confirmed that none of the surrounding lands was available for sale and formally applied for the provision of a new school on a greenfield site. Following a meeting between representatives of Cahergal national school and the Department of Education and Science, the property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department for site acquisitions, was requested to investigate the possibility of acquiring a site for the school. I understand that a suitable site has now been identified and that negotiations are at an advanced stage.

The school authorities have also decided to partake in the Department's small schools initiative, which allows small primary schools to undertake building and modernisation works on a devolved basis. I thank the Senator once again for raising this matter in the House.