Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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142. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the transfer of undertakings directive and regulations, TUPE, apply in the instance of his Department taking over a campus (details supplied); and if his Department, as a result of it taking over the campus now has an obligation under this regulation to the primary school teachers who have now been put at risk under a redundancy process. [32704/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In relation to the situation of the schools referred to by the Deputy more generally, the Patron has at all times indicated its commitment to the school community to ensure an orderly wind-down during the school’s phased closure. The Patron has recently announced that the Junior school will continue operating until the end of the current academic year in June 2017 and will then close. The post-primary school will continue to operate until June 2019 to ensure that all pupils currently attending the school can complete their current junior and senior cycles uninterrupted.

My Department is not taking over the operation of the schools referred to by the Deputy. The Patron of the schools has informed my Department that it intends to close the current schools. Officials from my Department have engaged with the Trustees in relation to the acquisition of the property. My Department has acquired the site with a view to using it for school accommodation in the future. A decision in relation to the use of accommodation or the configuration of schools in the future has not yet been determined. In these circumstances, I am satisfied that the transfer of undertakings directive and regulations do not apply to my Department; I am also satisfied that my Department does not have any obligations under the transfer of undertakings directive and regulations.