Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach stated on 17 June that he would study the speech of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, in which he stated that it was untenable for the position to continue whereby the Catholic Church still managed some 92% of the schools across the State. Has the Taoiseach taken the time to study Dr. Martin's comments and what was clearly an invitation to action?

Does the Taoiseach agree that this is about the long outstanding issue of addressing the need to bring about a full separation of church and State? Does he agree that it is an anomaly that the State pays for education through capitation grants, teachers' salaries and a raft of other payments but that the vast majority of primary and secondary schools are not under democratic control?

Does the Taoiseach accept that the vast majority of these schools are under the patronage of the Catholic bishops and ownership of the Catholic Church? Does he agree that we should move to a democratically controlled education system here which is truly representative of the community and which respects the rights of all religions and none?

Will the Taoiseach heed what I have described, in fairness to Dr. Martin, which is to all intents and purposes a further invitation to action by the State? This recognises that the position which currently pertains with regard to primary education in particular but also to secondary education in some measure is untenable and does not reflect the reality and make-up of Irish society.

See this speech in context