Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The point Deputy Thomas Byrne raised was whether there is a conflict between the admissions policy set out here and the other section. Until we amend and come back here with amendments to the equal status legislation, and I have indicated it is my intention to provide amendments, that equal status legislation exists and this Bill is just reflecting what it provides, namely, if a school refuses to admit a student who is not of that denomination, the school must prove that its refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school. If that is tested, it would be heard by the Workplace Relations Commission because it now deals with equality cases. That is the existing provision that goes back to the 2000 Act.

We have all indicated there is an eagerness in this committee to change that and I have indicated I will be coming back with proposed changes. However, until that occurs, this legislation obviously has to reflect the equal status provisions, and that is what it is doing here, and it is not doing any more than that. I fully recognise that we need to revisit the Equal Status Act but I believe we need to do so in a way that is constitutionally robust. We need to bring forward proposals that have been approved by the Attorney General and that respect the constitutional right of the religious to organise their affairs and so on. What we are providing for in section 62, which is what Deputy Byrne raised, is simply the existing provision. That is the provision as it now prevails.