Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic of great importance not only in County Monaghan but also nationally. It should be addressed and treated as such.

Monaghan Collegiate School has been teaching students since the 1500s. It is a small school of 247 pupils and operates within the Protestant ethos. It is the only Protestant secondary school in County Monaghan, although there are a number of Protestant national schools in the county. It does more than serve as a school; it also performs a vital function for the minority community in the county. It is important in a republic that parents have a right to choose the faith in which they wish their children to be educated. This is a choice all parents should have, regardless of their religion, and the country must allow for diversity of ethos in schools. Where a need is identified, the Government must support it. A way must be found to keep the current curriculum intact.

The parents who send their children to Monaghan Collegiate School are not part of a wealthy elite who choose to send their children to a private school because of a belief they will secure a better standard of education. They choose to send their children to the school because they want to have them taught in the Protestant faith. The fees for attending the school are very low and not on a par with those quoted for some Dublin schools. It is very important in this day and age that Ireland, being a republic, send a message, particularly in a Border area such as County Monaghan, that this country promotes inclusivity and will not force members of the minority Protestant community to send their children to school across the Border in counties Armagh and Tyrone when they are entitled to have them educated in the Republic.

Monaghan Collegiate has already suffered this year on foot of the loss of its concession and the resulting increase in its pupil-teacher ratio. If pressure is placed on the school to increase the ratio further, specialised teachers in subjects like French will be lost, increasing the chance that parents will send their children to complete their educations across the Border. As the headmaster, Mr. Johnston Reid, put it in his earthy fashion "If you take the goods off the shelf, people will not come into the shop". After September 2013, the effective pupil-teacher ratio will be 29:1, not 23:1. Currently, children are entitled to 28 hours of education per week whereas teachers are only entitled to teach for 22 hours per week. It means that for a headmaster juggling the numbers, the effective ratio is 29:1.

It is vital that funding is secured to ensure the future viability of Monaghan Collegiate. The school is suitable to be funded under peace programmes as a cross-Border project. I cannot stress enough that the community must not be made to feel excluded and marginalised. Monaghan Collegiate has survived for over 400 years and is a testament to the strength and determination of the Protestant community in County Monaghan to educate their children in their own ethos. I have been approached by a large number of parents and students, among whom there is a palpable sense of anger that they are being discriminated against by the Department's one-size-fits-all approach. Monaghan Collegiate is a special case in that it is a Border school. We have a situation whereby less than a mile north of the Border in Aughnacloy and less than three miles from the Border in Newtownhamilton, Protestant schools have been protected over the last 25 years notwithstanding that their pupil-teacher ratio was also under threat.

It is vitally important that the issue is brought to the fore to ensure that parents who want to send their kids to Monaghan Collegiate can do so into the future. It is fine if someone wants to send his or her kids to a multidenominational school, but some parents want to raise their kids in a faith-based school, whether it is Catholic or Protestant. In a republic, we must ensure the right to do so is protected. The changes that are taking place are jeopardising the future of the school, which is a retrograde step.

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