Jim Higgins
Question:163 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education the reason the purchase of Carysfort College was never formally brought before a meeting of the Higher Education Authority for discussion and approval.
Written Answers. - Sale of Carysfort College.
Jim Higgins
Question:164 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education whether she knew the identity of the vendor of Carysfort training college while the discussions were in progress for the purchase of the college by UCD.
Jim Higgins
Question:165 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education if her Department corresponded with the Sisters of Mercy in April 1989; and if so the nature of such correspondence.
Jim Higgins
Question:166 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education if her Department wrote to the Carysfort College authorities in April of 1989 expressing the view that her Department did not have any plans for the usage of the college as an educational facility.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 to 166, inclusive, together.
I wish to state yet again that in the process leading to the purchase of Carysfort College by UCD, no meetings, correspondence or contacts of any kind took place between myself or my officials and the vendors or their agents. All such contacts were made by the UCD authorities.
I had no information regarding the various owners and vendors, at that time, other than that available from media reports.
At no stage was any indication given by officials of my Department, either orally or in writing, that the Department did not wish Carysfort to be retained for educational purposes. On the contrary, in repeated letters to the Mercy Order, including the letter of 30 April 1989 referred to by the Deputy, my Department sought suitable leasing arrangements to permit the flexible use of the premises for third level educational purposes.
The letter of April 1989 set out a basis for the continued use of the premises for third level educational purposes. This was further confirmed and amplified in a letter from my Department dated 5 May 1989.
As I stated in my reply to a parliamentary question on 12 February 1991, any decision to purchase Carysfort and the allocation of funds for that purpose are matters solely for the Government.
The allocation made in December 1990 for this purpose was additional to the ordinary grant for capital purposes made available to the Higher Education Authority in that year. All the normal procedures in relation to the Supplementary Estimate of £9.7 million passed by the Dáil on 18 December 1990 were followed and the money was made available in the normal way to UCD through the Higher Education Authority.