Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the debate and the wider debate on patronage. As society changes it is important to have this debate and I welcome the Minister's commitment to having this debate so early. The 2006 census identified my part of the country as having the fastest growing population under the age of 14. As a result it might be no surprise that we seem to have spent the past ten years building schools. We were obviously delighted, as most people would be, with the church's long and fine tradition of service in primary education in all our parishes. I am a Catholic and when the bishop advised our parish that he would no longer be involved in the patronage of the next school, we wondered where we would go from there. While that is what today's debate is chiefly about, we should not forget the great role the Catholic Church has played and continues to play in schools in all our parishes.

I want to consider the schools opening in 2010 and raise the issue of the gaelscoileanna. In the past 20 years Educate Together has established many schools and now has 56 schools with a further two opening in September. Two schools are open under the new community national school model with three more to open in September. I am concerned that no gaelscoil has opened in the past three years. While there are 138 gaelscoileanna in the country, it is an issue we need to address. I agree with the Department's review of the situation. Prior to now a school might have been established without necessarily matching the demographic need. While in my parish a gaelscoil is being established this year, it is being established as a private school because it does not match the demographic need. I understand the Department's point that the system up to 2008 meant that people could establish a school first and then see the requirement thereafter. Some new schools in other areas needed to be established at short notice to meet the surge of demand, as we have seen around the Dublin area. Some schools were being established in areas where the population was not growing or was declining. I agree with the Minister in those concerns. While some of those schools were being established in areas of declining population, in the area where I live we just need to establish a school. The demographic need and having a place in the education system for every child needs to be the first requirement, after which we can enter the minefield of the patronage question.

I join previous speakers in voicing my support for the VEC model. The VEC has a proven track record with the new community national school model that has been established. It recognises the wishes of parents to have their children receive faith-based education as an integral part of the school curriculum. That is important for me as a parent and is important for many parents whom I represent. The VEC model is to be encouraged in that it provides that opportunity. I echo what Deputy Conlon said about the VEC and Educate Together working together. We need more people talking to each other. It is the options for children and parents that are important. It is important that the main faiths in the schools can be accommodated in the teaching of religion during the school day in accordance with the wishes of parents.

In response to a point made by Deputy Quinn earlier, it depends on the part of the country from which one comes. I come from a part of the country where the demographics were not easy to predict. Deputy Quinn said it is easy to predict that five years after a child is born he or she will go to school. In the year my child was born, 30 children were born in our parish but 120 five year olds started school. It is not easy to predict. As we know, most of those people moved out from the Dublin area.

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