Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I thank Deputy Martin Ferris and apologise for the confusion.

I am pleased that this matter has been chosen for debate as I have been contacted by many parents across Wicklow who want an Educate Together secondary school for their children. I welcomed the statement by the Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, of his intention to look at the issue of patronage for the primary sector. I thought it was high time that someone got to grips with this issue as I believe the great mix and diversity, which makes up Irish society, is not currently reflected in our school system. Educate Together is a relatively recent addition to the short list of patron bodies to govern our schools. However, it is one that has gone from strength to strength since the first school - the Dalkey School Project - was established in Dalkey in the late 1970s. There have been 65 schools brought into operation across the country under the ethos of Educate Together and I understand more primary schools are to open this year and next year. Five of these schools are within the north Wicklow and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area. They include schools in Wicklow town, Greystones, Dalkey, Monkstown and in my home town of Bray. However, there is a problem as these students cannot progress to a nearby Educate Together secondary school as there is none in existence.

At the beginning of his term as Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn took the important step of recognising Educate Together as a patron body for second-level schools. This commitment is welcome and I do not underestimate the significance of this recognition, given that a new second-level patronage body has not been recognised by the State since the 1930s. When the Minister announced the new school builds to meet our growing population I was hopeful that the school at the Blacklion site in Greystones would be among the first second-level schools to attain Educate Together recognition. This was not to be, however, although I know that sites in Drogheda, Blanchardstown and Lucan did attain this patronage. I know that good campaigns by parents were run on behalf of the interested patron bodies for the Greystones site, but ultimately the Church of Ireland was selected as patron. While I wish the school all the very best and I congratulate the parents and staff who are to embark on setting up this exciting project, a problem remains. The five Educate Together primary schools to which I referred earlier, still have no secondary school nearby to which parents can send their children. It is clear that this facility should be made available.

Research undertaken by Trinity College Dublin, demonstrated that over 90% of parents whose children attend Educate Together primary schools would send them to an Educate Together second-level school if such were available. This research is clearly reflected in the number of parents who wish to gain patronage at the Blacklion site in Greystones, with a total of 1,440 expressions of interest for such patronage.

It is also worth noting that the VEC school in Kilcoole is over-subscribed from its own catchment area and that there is no viable multidenominational option for students in the Bray-Greystones area.

Concerns have also been expressed to me that multidenominational admission policy does not adequately address the requirement for full equality and parity of esteem for students of all beliefs. Therefore, the question arises as to what provision will be made by the Department to meet the needs of parents and families looking for a nearby second-level Educate Together school in the Wicklow-south Dublin area.

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