Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, to delete line 19 and substitute the following:"In this Act—

"Act of 1998" means the Education Act 1998;

"Act of 2000" means the Equal Status Act 2000;

"The Council" means the National Council of Special Education.".

This amendment provides that under this section, we would make reference to the Equal Status Act 2000 as well as the Education Act 1998, which is in the Bill, as put forward by the Government. Everybody knows why I have put forward this amendment to make reference to the Equal Status Act. It is because the Equal Status Act contains the infamous section 7(3)(c), which, incredibly and disgracefully, gives a derogation to religious schools to discriminate.

The Equal Status Act is supposed to eliminate discrimination and ensure equality, yet that subsection gives a derogation to schools to discriminate against the children of all people, which is shocking. Amendments related to my amendment have been ruled out of order. I find it extraordinary that an amendment relating to admission to schools has been ruled out of order simply because it relates to another Act. That subsection of the Equal Status Act is the key to facilitating the ongoing discrimination against children in the vast majority of schools. This intolerable provision has to be dealt with. To discriminate against anybody is bad but to discriminate against children is outrageous. A total of 72% of parents believe the law should be amended in order that baptism would no longer be a requirement for school admission, while 24% say they would not have baptised their children if they had not needed to do so to gain entry to schools. It is incredible that people are baptising their children purely to gain admission to schools. More than 90% of schools are Catholic and children who are not of that faith are segregated, excluded, isolated and made feel different because they do not share the dominant faith, yet they do not have the choice in many cases to attend a multi-denominational or a non-denominational school. They are, therefore, forced into this invidious position. Any reasonable person would say this is not acceptable. Whatever reasons successive Governments had for kowtowing to the Catholic Church primarily and allowing them to dominate schools and pursue this discrimination, times have changed. Even people who are of the Catholic faith recognise the inequity and injustice.

As the Minister will be aware, another reason has emerged in the last while; as if the substantial discrimination against kids was not enough, those who run Catholic schools are now sick and tired of the Catholic Church's domination. That has emerged in the recent period because of religious denominations selling off facilities and degrading the quality of schools and their facilities to pay off their debts or whatever else. There is nothing for the Minister to be afraid of anymore because even the people running schools who may have long subscribed to their values and ethos are fed up with the church's domination of schools. There is nothing to fear politically. The discrimination is partially due to the political establishment being in hock to a particular religious viewpoint, but, more recently, it probably has just been caused by political fear of standing up to the Catholic Church because of the consequences that might flow from it. However, there is no need to fear anymore. On a moral, reasonable level, we should remove the baptism barrier under this legislation. Even on a purely pragmatic, expedient, political basis, there is simply no reason to fail to do it anymore. The Government should get on with it and do it. It should even go beyond it and separate church and State completely in the entire education system and other areas.