Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Is the Minister familiar with the comments of probably the largest patron in the country, with responsibility for one seventh of all the primary schools in the country? I refer to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who said at a Dublin gathering of the IPPN that the dominance of his patronage was a legacy of the past which no longer reflected the needs either of his church or the community.

Is the Minister aware that his Department has stopped the patron body of gaelscoileanna, An Foras Pátrúnachta, from moving its patronage model to a level of permanence? I refer specifically to Coláiste Chill Dara in this case, where the Department is refusing to allow its status to change from conditional to permanent, thereby blocking its funding. The Minister cannot make a decision on extending patronage to Educate Together for secondary schools, even though his Department is planning schools in the Lucan area.

Whatever form it takes, the archbishop has suggested a forum. I am aware that officials from the Department met with him after his comments at Kilmainham. This is not an issue about new schools but one where an existing patron of existing schools says he does not want to have them. How does the Minister deal with that? We also have problem with a patron who, according to all the evidence in the public domain, is not carrying out its duties in regard to Cabra.

What role is there in this for the Department of Education and Science? Its documentation suggests there will be an extra 100,000 pupils by 2013 on top of the existing 500,000. Does the Minister accept there is a crisis in patronage that must be dealt with quickly?

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