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

As the Bill stands, Irish medium schools are not prohibited from prioritising children from Irish-speaking homes. An amendment which provides that such schools do not discriminate within the meaning of the Equal Status Act is not appropriate. There is no provision in that Act and any amendment that proposes to amend the definition of discrimination within that Act would have to be made within the Act itself. The difficulty with the school making a statement that it is not discrimination would not change the parent Act. The parent Act does not deal with language as a grounds for discrimination. Under this Bill, Irish medium schools are not prohibited from prioritising children from Irish-speaking homes. None of the amendments I am bringing forward today will prohibit schools from doing so.

I am aware, however, that there are concerns that some provisions in the Bill could have a bearing on the manner or mechanism by which a school would ascertain that a student is from an Irish-speaking home. Some schools, for example, meet or undertake an assessment of the student, in some cases the parents or in some cases both students and parents to ascertain whether Irish is in fact the language spoken at home. In the context of this Bill, such an approach raises a number of issues. The overall reach and approach of this Bill is to prohibit priority based on the academic ability, skill or aptitude of the student or parent. It is consistent with long-standing education policy that the academic capacity, aptitude or skills of a child or his or her parents should never have a bearing on whether a child is admitted to a school. It is for that reason that entrance tests were explicitly banned back in 1993 by the then Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach.

I assure the committee that the Government and I wish to support and promote the Irish language and Irish medium schools as far as possible. I am, therefore, open to supporting such schools to prioritise children from Irish-speaking homes, where the schools are oversubscribed. There are, however, complexities involved with ensuring that any mechanism through which they do so is fair and does not serve to exclude children of lesser academic ability or those with special educational needs. Such a mechanism must also take due account of the general desirability that public policy and law should ensure that no child is excluded from a school based on his or her family or socioeconomic background.

Furthermore, both policy and legal questions arise in defining what an Irish-speaking home is. Does it apply where one parent is a fluent speaker but the other parent is not? Does Irish have to be the exclusive language of the house? Are bilingual families covered? How can that be provided for in law? These are complex issues, both legally and in terms of policy. Nonetheless, I can assure the committee that I intend to reflect further on how the objective can be achieved in a fair, inclusive and transparent manner so as to ensure that I can bring forward an appropriate amendment which takes full account of these issues and has been legally proofed by the Attorney General. Subject to such considerations and to legal advice, I intend to do so on Report Stage. I am not disposed to accepting these amendments at this point.