Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As I stated in my reply to Deputy Rabbitte, those issues are dealt with in the normal course of discussions between the churches and Departments, in this case, the Department of Education and Science. This issue will need to be discussed and debated with the churches.

A number of new religions are now being practised in our country because we have a large immigrant population, including workers from the new EU states. The issue of education also arises and those discussions are being carried on separately by the Department of Education and Science. The management of schools is an issue which the churches have raised because of their declining population. This is a problem which arises not only in education but also in health and other areas where the churches have given the State excellent service over the generations.

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