Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to share time with Senator Ulick Burke.

There was great shock in the Kinvara area on 12 October when the Mercy Order announced it was withdrawing as a provider of education in the Kinvara area and that it would close Seamount College, Kinvara. The order stated it would not take first year students in September 2007. Why have the trustees decided not to appoint a new board of management? Must the Department of Education and Science give permission to disband a board of management?

This matter was decided by the Mercy Order without consultation, an issue raised at a meeting with public representatives last Friday in Kinvara. That 243 girls are attending the school proves it is viable. If the Department believes the number of students is too low, I could give examples of schools in the constituency in which I reside with fewer students that still manage to cover a broad curriculum. St Cuan's College in Castleblakeney has 220 pupils. Some years ago sisters teaching there had to return to France but a lay school was able to function under the patronage of the bishop.

The Department may believe male students in the area are attending Gort community school. The capacity of that school is 600 but more than 730 students are now attending it and the school has to rent rooms from the VEC. Gort is some 12 miles from Kinvara. Calasanctius school in Oranmore is another one without further capacity.

There must be a school in Kinvara. I seek breathing space for the school, to allow enrolment to continue in September and for an alternative to the convent to be found. I cannot pre-empt what the local community may say but it is in shock at this decision. The Department did not know of this decision until 12 October and there was no consultation by the Mercy Order. Few girls from the area attend Gort community school and they wish to attend the local school, Seamount College. With breathing space we will be able to comply with the wishes of the parents and the community in Kinvara.

Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Kitt for sharing time. We have previously spoken on school transport difficulties regarding Seamount College, Kinvara. The suddenness and secrecy of this decision has shocked the community, the teaching staff, the board of management and parents. Today, the Department of Education and Science informed me of confidential negotiations between the trustees of the college and the Department in April. It is unacceptable that the Minister for Education and Science was not informed of the decision. Likewise, the people whose livelihood and education are affected by it were not informed. It is regrettable the decision was announced during the last days of office of the board of management. As a result, the trustees appointed a single manager, a retrograde step given that all partners in education agreed it was best that every school have a board of management. That has been ruled out, an unnecessary caveat.

The most important point to be communicated to the Minister for Education and Science is that continuation of intake to Seamount College next September must be allowed. The urgency of this cannot be over-emphasised. From next month until Easter schools will hold open days for prospective students. If the cycle is broken, there will be a gap in attendance at Kinvara.

Regardless of involvement of the current trustees in future education in Kinvara, a second level school in the area is important. The Department's projected numbers are ill-informed. The Department's first communication to the school principal, the board of management and staff stated there were 150 students in Kinvara. As Senator Kitt stated, 243 are enrolled in the school. Trustees had sought projected figures from the Department over the years. It is detrimental to the future of education in the area for the Department's figures to be accepted. The two nearest schools, in Gort and Oranmore, are full to capacity. Last night in the Dáil it was suggested those schools could accommodate the low intake and low projected figures of Seamount College. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The liaison group is trying to meet all the relevant bodies and to reopen negotiations. It is unbelievable that any group of trustees would seek to close the school without consultation with relevant groups. We seek continuation and intake of students in the coming year. This will provide space for reasonable, transparent negotiations. A total of 14 young teachers who have proved themselves by their capacity to produce some of the highest examination results in the country, as per the 2004 assessment of examination results carried out by The Irish Times, together with seven other temporary teachers, will be without a job. That someone can make a decision like this so callously is unacceptable and unfair to teachers and their families and friends. They have a contribution to make to the community. Seamount College was as much a part of the heritage of Kinvara as any school in any other town.

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

Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. He spoke about the increasing number of girls attending Gort community school. It is only right that I should point out that I understand that only four girls from the parish attend that school. Will the Minister of State raise this point with the Department of Education and Science? I do not see this as evidence of an increasing trend and it is certainly not an increase in the number of girls attending Gort community school.

Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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The figures used by the Department of Education and Science to date are, for want of a better word, questionable. I ask that the view of the local committee, which knows best about the population, intakes and projected figures in that catchment area for the future, be taken into account before any decision is taken to close the school. The figures at both ends of this stick are unreliable and will definitely be contradicted by the real figures.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously, I am willing to take the concerns of both Senators back to the Department of Education and Science. My understanding is that the enrolment of 240 is the accurate figure. I also understand there is capacity for 800 in Gort community school and that its enrolment of 730 allows for further expansion of the number of pupils it can accommodate. That being said, if additional information is available through the parish records or any developments that are likely to take place, the Minister of Education and Science would be delighted to obtain it and this information should be furnished to her.