Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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229. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question 401 of 17 June 2025, if the patronage of a school (details supplied) is currently being transferred to the ETB and her Department; if a board of management will be re-established as part of that process of transfer or following the conclusion of that process. [35053/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Under the Education Act 1998, the legal responsibility for transferring patronage of a school rests with the current school patron in the first instance. A school patron may write to me as Minister for Education and Youth in relation to transfer of patronage of a school under their patronage under Section 8 of the Education Act 1998 and request that the patron register is amended accordingly. In cases where a transfer of patronage is planned, there are many matters that need to be discussed and agreed in advance by the existing patron and any incoming patron including practical and legal considerations.

Further information regarding transfers of patronage can be found on the schools’ reconfiguration page on www.gov.ie/schoolsreconfiguration

Under the provisions of the Education Act 1998, it is the duty of the patron to appoint, where practicable, a board of management. The act also provides that the patron may appoint a person or persons to manage the school in circumstances where the appointment of a board is not practicable.

In the case of the school referred to by the deputy, the patron has determined that the appointment of a board of management is not practicable at this time and has appointed a single manager to manage the school. The deputy will appreciate that the appointment of a board of management is solely a matter for the relevant school patron and that I have no role in this regard.