Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his supplementary remarks. There is no question of the State discriminating or seeking to discriminate against Protestant schools. Private schools are not only Protestant or reformed church schools; there are also private Catholic schools.

The current pupil-teacher ratio, despite having been increased in recent years, is still 23:1, as compared to 19:1 in the free secondary education sector. The gap is not an enormous one when one considers that all the private schools charge fees and have available to them an income stream in that regard, as well as from the discretionary income source of €81 million, although it may not all be discretionary income.

Some second level schools, such as Kilkenny College and, previously, Wilson's Hospital School, have demonstrated that they can maintain and promote their Church of Ireland ethos through the free second level scheme. There are five Protestant comprehensive schools that do not charge fees at all. Therefore, the position is not absolutely black and white. Every school has the option of entering the free second level scheme at any point in time. Many fee-paying schools have done so over the years. This option will be available in the future. The Department is always available to speak to and advise any school that wants to transition to the scheme. At present, I am not in a position to give any assurances on what may happen in the forthcoming budget.

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