Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McConalogue's first question was about places and all 32 places have been taken and it has happened three times. I did not really understand the third question and perhaps I misheard it. There is a philosophical element in this, I suppose, and if I am reading the interventions by Deputies Ó Ríordáin, Collins and Bannon correctly, there seems to be an issue with whether the State should provide wholly for education of primary and post-primary levels, or if there should be what could loosely be called a subvention for provision at schools where there is a particular religious ethos. We are all aware of the particular provision proposed here, which is to ensure we can guarantee the teaching ethos through the Protestant tradition. We would not necessarily disagree with that.

Speaking personally, one could argue that religious formation for any citizen could take place through a Sunday school mechanism or outside normal teaching hours. Nevertheless, the State provides for a number of hours, which is probably a vagary of our history of a strong Catholic ethos with other minority religions. The education sector in Finland has 97% of schools within the state sector and religious formation is extraneous to the process. The majority of the schools are within the public sphere.

Ireland is a particular country with a specific history and traditions, so there is an historical narrative in that regard. It is a question of where we are moving. Are we looking to divest ourselves of any State intervention with schools of a particular ethos? That is a particular philosophical question with which we must grapple. I have a particular policy responsibility for science, technology, engineering and maths, and if members are asking me whether I believe we should spend more time in schools teaching in those areas than preparing for certain aspects of religious formation, I know I would prefer to invest the time in teaching core subjects. That is a personal opinion.

I sense from the committee that there is no difficulty with the provision being proposed. In response to Deputy Bannon, there is no different set of rights.

We are recognising a minority ethos and ensuring it is protected in terms of pedagogy, teaching and ensuring the supply of teachers, and we are doing it in a structured way.