Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I seek leave under Standing Order 32 to have the business of the Dáil adjourned to discuss a matter of urgent importance, namely, the impact of the withdrawal from Protestant fee paying schools of the support services grant, the unilateral breaking of the formal agreement between former Minister Donogh O'Malley and Church of Ireland bishops representing all Protestant faith based schools, the effective deprivation of disadvantaged Protestant faith children from receiving an education within the ethos chosen by their parents, given that the number of such schools in the State is limited to 21 in just 13 counties, and that for a paltry saving the Minister has arbitrarily ended the long-standing acceptance of the necessity to facilitate Protestant ethos education for disadvantaged children of that faith.

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