Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Does the Minister of State agree the process was initiated by the archbishop, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, who said having 92% of schools managed by the Catholic Church was untenable and that 50% would be more appropriate to cater for the Catholic community? Will the Minister of State confirm, as has been stated in publicly released documents, that the deputation from the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference which met with the Department said it would only consider surrendering the patronage of schools in certain areas in return for the granting of patronage of new schools in built-up areas? This is tantamount to the Catholic Church asserting it will hold what it has already.

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