Ms Sarah Lennon:

The Labour Party's Equal Status (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 addresses, in a relatively strong way, the twin goals of education equality, which is equal respect. The Government's Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 is relatively weak. Section 62(6)(h) states a school's admissions policy shall "provide details of the school's policy in relation to its arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction". Publishing the way in which a child will be segregated in the school day does not achieve anything. The Labour Party's Bill proposes schools would not qualify for public moneys unless they are organised to enable the right of the child to opt out of religious instruction.

According to the Department of Education and Skills, one in five schools are oversubscribed. The majority would be in areas of population growth anyway. To address that, it is proposed to produce 300 new multi-denominational schools in the next 14 years. Today's four year old will not necessarily benefit from this.

The issue of choice is a red herring. Choice is important but, in some cases, it could be a Hobson's choice. I live in an area in south County Dublin with three national schools, two Roman Catholic and one Church of Ireland. My three and a half year old child is category 7 and category 9 in both of those schools. In terms of south County Dublin being highly populated, accessing those schools is essentially impossible.

If we were to access these schools, the big issue is how my son would opt out of religious instruction. The Bill, as drafted, would not assuage me or give me any confidence in his ability to opt out of religious instruction. The Labour Party Bill is stronger in this regard. However, Education Equality's proposal is that, in essence, to afford equal respect and dignity, regardless of religion or religious ethnicity or family background, religious instruction and faith formation should take part in a discrete part of the day - either at the beginning or end of the school day - outside of core hours. That is a relatively simple and straightforward change which would enable parents to effectively opt their child out without the child being segregated within the school day, sent to the back of the classroom with a book on their own, or maybe as a pair if they are lucky. That straightforward change would enable parents to effectively make the choice as to whether their child participates in faith formation.

To strengthen that, we propose religious instruction and faith formation relating to or arising from the characteristic ethos of the school should not take place at any other time during the school day so as not to permeate the education at any other time during the school day. This is an issue some parents have experienced with examples such as learning to count by counting angels or using religious iconography.

It is a relatively straightforward amendment. We would appreciate an opportunity for the committee to strengthen what is already in the Bill by actually specifying what opting out would specifically mean and how the Labour Party's Bill on qualifying for public moneys would work. In essence, we are seeking an effective opt-out for parents for their sons or daughters.