Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know that is not an issue that concerns the Deputy. I expect the Bill to be published in this session. It will go before the committee following which the Bill will be prepared and then debated here. We will have to see how we get on with that debate and give everybody their opportunity to have their say because it is obviously a sensitive matter. It needs to be dealt with within the Constitution and in an understanding way as it is so important and clearly defined from the perspective of legal clarity by the facts emerging in respect of the inquest being held in Galway.

The issue of divesting of school patronage began with the Catholic Church because of the numbers of schools held by it and under its patronage. There was an express wish to divest a number of these but to retain Catholic schools with a Catholic ethos as is appropriate. The discussion took place on that basis and it was a very good discussion. While the church welcomed pluralism in many schools, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, was very clear in his attitude here and in his response. He updated the cardinal and bishops on the findings emerging from the surveys that were being carried out. It may well be that when the interim report comes back, circumstances in some places may dictate that it is practically impossible or very difficult to do something like this.

In a town anywhere - perhaps not in densely populated urban areas - there might be three or four schools that are all well populated with pupils. To shift one of them to a different type of patronage might create very practical difficulties of moving students or having to provide a new building. It is a case of letting us see the church's interim reaction to the findings of the survey in respect of their schools and discuss it further at that stage. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, was quite open, as was Bishop Kelly, in the discussion on that.

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