Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have received several representations from Protestant schools and the committee received a briefing recently. Parents have told me of people’s presumption that, since their children attend private schools, they are wealthy or that money is not an issue for them. The school that I have in mind is in Dundalk, is a fee paying boarding school with a Protestant ethos and has a wide catchment area spreading across the surrounding counties. Some of the parents have told me that they are scrimping and saving to send their children to the school, not because they are wealthy, but because the school has the Protestant ethos in which they were reared. They argue that if Catholic children are allowed to attend Catholic or Educate Together schools, they should have an equal opportunity to avail of Protestant schools.