David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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95. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 330 of 21 May 2024, to outline the ownership of the property referred to in her reply as the "former technical school"; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24409/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy has been advised the policy on patronage divesting is to use existing educational infrastructure to facilitate provision of diversity in areas where there is no demographic imperative to establish new schools.

As part of the process of identifying a suitable accommodation solution which would facilitate the establishment of the school, my Department liaised with Cork Education and Training Board. In order to facilitate the establishment of the new school, the ETB agreed to the co-location of the Educate Together school at the former Technical School (owned by The Minister for Education) in Fermoy, which is under ETB management.

Prior to the establishment of the new school in 2018 under the patronage divesting process, my Department and Educate Together as school patron agreed that given the accommodation available at the property, the school would be established as a four-classroom school and that the school will maintain this configuration at the property.

The role of my Department is to ensure that all schools in an area can, between them, cater to school place requirements in that area. The broader position in the Fermoy School Planning Area is that demographics at primary level are declining and will steadily decrease for the foreseeable future.

The school has been advised to direct any queries that it may have regarding the divesting agreement to its patron. My Department continues to engage with the school patron, Educate Together, in respect of the current and future needs of the school.