asked the Minister for Education whether he is aware that the provision of additional accommodation for pupils in the Saint Louis Convent, Monaghan is being held up, pending clearance of title on the site approved for the building which forms part of the old Ulster Canal property; and what steps he proposes to take to resolve this problem to permit the building to proceed.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Monaghan Convent School Accommodation.
70.
The clearance of title to the site is a matter for the school authorities. I have not been informed that they have been experiencing difficulty in this connection.
Is the Minister aware that he has given sanction for the extension of this school, that the land on which the school is to be built is part of the old Ulster Canal and the Board of Works was prepared to give a lease to the sisters where they might proceed with the building, until somebody discovered what Deputy Sweetman and I knew ten years ago, that nobody knows who owns the old Ulster Canal? Nobody cared who owned it. Everybody wants the nuns to be facilitated but we are now in the astonishing position in which there is nobody in the country in a position to sign a lease for land on which they should erect the school. Would the Minister consider asking his colleague, the Minister for Finance, to take the risk and ask the Board of Works to sign a lease.
I will take that up with my colleague.
I am sure the Minister for Transport and Power and Posts and Telegraphs will agree with me that they have some sort of pre-emptive title to this property and so far as the convent is concerned, they will be happy to hear from the Minister or the local authority. Is the Minister further aware of a difficulty which apparently has arisen in deciding the matter—the fact that at some stage in the distant past an ancient local authority got a judgment mortgage against the Ulster Canal for rates and that that is deemed to be a fault in the title of the Minister for Finance. May I appeal to the Minister to ride a coach and four through this abracadabra and sign the lease? We will guarantee to indemnify him in this House if he is billed for 3s 9d by the local authority?
I will look into it and communicate with the Deputy.