Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

My understanding is that the litigation has completed and that the former principal has been exonerated in terms of her very responsible role in this situation where she sought in the best interests of her student to have an obstructive teacher removed. That stance was unanimously supported by the board of management in the school, but as the Minister indicated, it was not agreed by the archdiocese. The school board made an intervention to the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, but it was cited that he could not intervene due to canon law. That gets to the heart of a subject that has been very much in the news of late, namely, the erosion of a constitutional right to a secular education system whereby the Catholic Church should not have a right to impose its rules over various schools. The law is clear. The board of management is supposed to decide on the running of a school, but in this case the board of management resigned twice. The case ended up in the courts. The school lost and the principal was vindicated. At the root of the problem was the intervention of the church in the background, which is a completely inappropriate place for the church to be in education.

Will the Minister clarify the point about ongoing inspections? My understanding is that an agreement had been reached, and given that the teacher would not be dismissed, his behaviour would be monitored and the Department undertook that would be the case.

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