Vol. 463 No. 3
240 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Education when a property at Delvin, County Westmeath, was purchased by Westmeath vocational education committee; the date the contract of sale was signed; the person by whom it was signed; if any engineer's or architect's report was received prior to the agreement of sale; the purpose for which the building has been used; the frequency of use; and the proposals, if any, she has for this building. [6185/96]
County Westmeath vocational education committee, at its meeting of 11 January 1993, approved the sealing and signing of an agreement to purchase a building adjacent to the courthouse in Delvin in order to expand the existing youthreach centre. The agreement was signed in January 1993 by the chairperson of County Westmeath vocational education committee, Mr. Henry Abbot and Mr. Padraig Dunne, acting chief executive officer. The purchase price agreed was £30,000 and £10,000 of this was paid on 11 January 1993. An engineer/architect's report was not received prior to the agreement.
The proposals for use of the premises was to provide a youthreach centre and residential/catering facility when the building had been renovated. However, the premises has not been used for either of these purposes, and my Department has now approved the disposal of this property. This will not affect the delivery of the youthreach programme which is housed in an adjacent building. My Department approved this provision and funding, under the usual conditions, of a youthreach centre in Delvin but did not sanction the purchase of a building for this purpose. Youthreach is usually provided in rented premises.
