Dr. Ken Fennelly:

I thank the Chairman and members of the joint committee for the invitation to address them. We represent the Church of Ireland Board of Education, the primary school management advisory service for 197 primary schools under ten Church of Ireland patrons, as well as Presbyterian, Methodist and Quaker Society of Friends schools. There are a further 25 post-primary schools under Church of Ireland and wider Protestant management and patronage. I am joined by Ms Linda Rainsberry, chair of the board of governors of Kilkenny College.  Kilkenny College is a voluntary secondary school in the free scheme which serves the Church of Ireland and Protestant population in nine counties in the south east. Ms Rainsberry will be happy to speak to the committee about how a restrictive regulation on catchment areas would affect a Protestant boarding school serving practically all of Leinster outside Dublin.

The committee will be aware that there are three separate matters to do with school admissions in train - the Bill brought forward by Deputy Joan Burton and the Labour Party, the Education (Admissions to School) Bill 2016 and the consultation process on school admissions with the Department for Education and Skills. We note that section 61(2)(b) of the Education (Admissions to School) Bill 2016 contains a specific reference to section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000. This Bill seems to link the religious denominational criteria with the school catchment area but without reference to the Education (Admissions to School) Bill 2016 and neither is being considered in the context of the ongoing consultation process with the Department for Education and Skills that has as one of the options amendment of section 7 (3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000. In her comments to the Dáil in introducing this Bill I notice that Deputy Joan Burton made reference to the importance of the prioritisation of and the derogation in section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000 for the Church of Ireland community. I thank her for that reference. Of course, none of the proposed changes, as Mr. Mulconry said, would add one school place in the education system or address the reality that the issue of oversubscription arises as a result of the shortage of school places. The other reality is that by law all children must go to school. I suggest to the committee that the National Educational Welfare Board and Tusla are best placed to advise it on the numbers of children not in school on 30 September in any given year which would give it a picture on oversubscription. 

I again thank the Chairman and members for inviting us. As I mentioned, my colleague, Ms Rainsberry, is available to provide further more detailed information on how catchment area restrictions would affect one of our 25 second level schools which also happens to be a boarding school.