Sr. Marie Céline Clegg:

The specific question related to whether there is a need for legislation given my claim that the majority of schools are compliant at the moment in terms of general legislation pertaining in particular to admissions policies. When the Department of Education and Skills did an audit in 2008 on enrolment policies around the country the outcome was that there was no major concern about admissions policies and their implementation.

On the need for legislation, if we take for example the National Educational Welfare Board guidelines on school code of behaviour, I would argue that they are complied with to the letter in practically every situation. They are a set of guidelines emanating from a piece of primary legislation. What we object to in our submission is the level of detail and the role of the Minister in regard to every aspect of the admissions policy formulation and implementation.

With regard to the implementation question, it is evident that patrons take a huge interest in the manner in which boards of management are fulfilling their statutory responsibility. If boards of management are made to feel that they do not have a significant autonomous role to play, guided by main underlying principles which the Minister has every right to formulate, that will undermine the role of the board of management as a statutory body. Boards already act voluntarily. Patrons also have a role in admissions policies and they also act voluntarily. They are not funded by the State for the role they fulfil. It appears that the intention behind the legislation is one of achieving greater inclusiveness, social inclusion and social cohesion but that is achieved as a central tenet of policy and practice not through legislation on its own.