Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am making this reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin. At the outset, I thank Senator Kitt for raising this matter and Senator Ulick Burke for his contribution to the debate. The Department of Education and Science fully appreciates the impact and importance this decision has on the local community. I emphasise that Seamount College is a voluntary secondary school and decisions such as the one which is the subject of this debate 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 school, 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 of Education and Science 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 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. The trustees have written to the Department of Education and Science concerning the appointment of the manager and the Department will respond to them in due course.

In respect of a decision by a patron body to close a school, the Department's concern is to ensure 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 and, more recently, there would appear to be an increase in the number of girls also attending Gort community school. Gort community school is a co-educational facility and, at present, the Sisters of Mercy also serve as trustees of this school. The school was built in the mid-1990s with an overall capacity of 800 and I understand that enrolment as at September 2006 stood at just over 730 students.

I can assure the House that the Department is examining the implications of the phased closure with a view to ensuring the educational needs of the children in the area continue to be met. The Sisters of Mercy have a strong record of educational achievement at Seamount College over many years and the decision to close the school is regrettable. However, the order will maintain an educational presence at second level in the area as they are still 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 Educational Committee in respect of provision at Gort community school. I again thank Senator Kitt for raising this matter.