Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

The truth is that Catholic schools in Ireland are Catholic with a small "C" rather than a large "C". While it may be that some of that church's members seek more Catholic-driven schools in which Catholic social doctrine would be communicated, this is not my experience. The great majority of Catholic schools in this country are ordinary national schools. They are Catholic with a small "C" and are not akin to Pakistani madrassa school that are driven by an ideological religious bent. They are an outcome of historical circumstance.

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