Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 July 2014
188. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school patrons that sold land or school buildings during each of the past ten years; the details of the sale; and the amount of money that was received by his Department as a result. [28379/14]
View answerMy Department does not hold details of all patron owned lands or school buildings sold during the past ten years. Where a school patron owns land not associated with the running of schools, the disposal of such land is a private matter for the patron. Where significant funds from my Department have been invested in developing a school building on a patron-owned site and where a charging lease has been put in place to protect the State's interest, such property cannot be sold during the term of the lease without the consent of my Department being obtained to have this interest released. With regard to these properties over which a charging lease was in place and where a request to release the Minister's interest was received, details in relation to such properties are held on individual files. Therefore the scope of the Deputy's request is such that the information requested is not readily available. To identify, retrieve and examine individual files would involve significant manual processes to the extent that it would cause a substantial and unreasonable disruption of the work of the Department. However, where information is available in electronic format such that it can be collated, the details will be compiled and forwarded to the Deputy.
