Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Would the Taoiseach consider it a good idea to establish a national education forum? As he said, the majority of the issues being discussed as part of the structural dialogue, not surprisingly, centre around the area of education. He has given a good outline of the current situation, in which there is a large range of churches and an increasing demand for separate provision. Whether it is desirable from the point of view of integration, separate provision is not something that can be achieved from the point of view of resources. However, if separate provision cannot be made for some churches, this raises wider issues. These should be addressed in a new education forum where the needs of parents and their children are put on the table along with the wishes of the respective churches and the capacity of the State to respond to the different demands and aspirations for educational provision and a resolution arrived at.

There is not a great deal of time for discussion of these issues because, as the Taoiseach said, the children are already coming into the schools. We saw some evidence of the resulting pressure on primary schools this year. This will quickly work its way through to second level. Could this discussion be advanced more rapidly by a new national educational forum than by the structured dialogue?

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