Written answers
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Department of Education and Skills
Departmental Properties
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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384. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of vacant properties owned by her Department; and the number of which are houses or residential properties. [43140/24]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I refer to my previous answer on this issue to the Deputy in PQ 13820/24 in April of this year. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table below. There has been one addition to the list since the data was provided to the Deputy in April 2024 and this is the last entry in the table. There are currently seven vacant properties (for which there are no building projects planned or in train). As informed previously, this is a position that can evolve and is kept under review.
By way of information the number of properties owned by my Department is very small. A large majority of schools are patron-owned with only approximately 9% of schools in Ministerial ownership nationwide.
| Property | Location | Comment | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land in Ballincollig | County Cork | Purchased in 2002 to facilitate a sports hall for two nearby schools. Due to budget priorities at the time the sports hall wasn’t built. It may be disposed of in the future or retained for future school accommodation use depending on the needs of the area. | 0.045 hectares |
| Gaeilscoil Bhríde | County Tipperary | Purchased in 1995 for Gaeilscoil Bhríde but a new school was built on the existing site instead. Land is being retained should it be needed for development and educational purposes in the future. | 1.6 hectare site |
| Aghina, Caum | County Cork | Purchased in 2009 to replace the existing Aghina National School but that school subsequently closed. It was offered for the ‘Housing for All’ initiative recently but was deemed not suitable. | 1.57 hectare site |
| Croghan | County Roscommon | Purchased in 2007 to relocate Rathcroghan National School on the site but that school subsequently closed. It was offered for the ‘Housing for All’ initiative but was deemed not suitable at the time. | 0.6 hectare site |
| Crinion Park | County Wicklow | Purchased in 2002 as a permanent site for Gaeilscoil Chill Mhaintáin but it was subsequently not required for this particular purpose. Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School was temporarily located on the site from 2019 until the summer of 2021. It was recently considered by Kildare Wicklow ETB for file storage but this was not considered necessary. It was offered for the ‘Housing for All’ and the Ukrainian Humanitarian Crisis initiatives but was deemed not suitable. It may be used in the future for further temporary accommodation. | 0.6 hectare site |
| Carna | County Galway | Transferred to the Department in 2007. It was offered for the ‘Housing for All’ and the Ukrainian Humanitarian Crisis initiatives but was deemed not suitable. | 0.6 hectare field |
| Harold's Cross | Dublin 6 | The Department is currently examining additional education opportunities in relation to this house and its long term use. It was acquired as part of the overall purchase of the former Harold's Cross Greyhound Stadium. | Part of 6 acre site |
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