I thank the Ceann Comhairle for permitting me to raise the matter of the proposed closure of St. Catherine's College of Home Economics, Sion Hill, Blackrock, County Dublin and the Minister for Health and Children for coming before the House to respond.
In recent weeks the management of St. Catherine's College of Home Economics received a letter from the Department of Education and Science stating the college was to be closed; that, from next year, no new first year students would be enrolled in the college, and that it was intended to consolidate teacher education for home economics in St. Angela's College, Sligo. There had been no consultation with the board of management, president or staff of the college, although I understand there had been discussions with the trustees concerning their future plans for the college premises. St. Catherine's College of Home Economics, which is located in my constituency, has produced generations of home economics teachers for the nation's schools. It is a high quality college whose four year course results in a teaching degree from Trinity College, Dublin.
The decision to close the college is a bad one and should be reversed. The State has recently invested €1.5 million in upgrading the teaching facilities and kitchens which will be wasted if the college is now to be closed. Furthermore, its closure will leave the eastern part of the country without a home economics teacher facility. While St. Angela's in Sligo is a fine college, it is located more than four miles from Sligo town and may not attract students who would otherwise attend St. Catherine's. While prospective students may be relocated to Sligo, it will not be so easy to relocate staff, many of whom have roots in the Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire areas. Therefore, there will be real job losses arising from the decision to close the college.
Is it such a good idea to simply consolidate the two colleges with a combined annual output of 50 teachers per annum? Schools already find it difficult to recruit home economics teachers and there is a case for increasing the number of such teachers; home economics should be taught more widely in the school system, justifying a larger number of teachers and a larger requirement for teacher education facilities.
In advance of making this decision, the Department of Education and Science commissioned a report on the options facing St. Catherine's College. That report, referred to as the O'Brien report, should be published in order that we can see the options examined and how they were evaluated.
If the trustees are no longer prepared to house the college, there were other options that could have been examined. The Dominican Sisters have given many years of committed service to education in Blackrock and I hope they will continue to do so. The Department of Education and Science could rent the premises from the trustees or enter into an arrangement with them to maintain the college on this site. Was that option considered? Were other options that would have allowed St. Catherine's to continue to operate in its present location examined? Could it not have been made part of the education department of Trinity College Dublin, which provides its degrees, or of the education department of UCD, which has a facility on the nearby Carysfort campus? A meeting should be held as soon as possible between the Minister and the board of management of the college because it has not had an opportunity to discuss the issue with him, even though it has requested such a meeting.
The college should be kept open. It is not good for teacher education in general and home econ omics teacher education specifically to proceed with the amalgamation of St. Catherine's College and St. Angela's College. There is a strong case for the retention of St. Catherine's College. We all accept that things may have to change but options other than the complete closure of the college and removal of its facilities could be considered.
