Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that if the school has room, irrespective of who runs the school, it must take all the children who apply. The legislation I have published is operating under the current equality legislation which, as the Deputy says, allows a school run under a religious denomination to maintain the ethos of the school. If that involves admitting certain children and not others when the school is over-subscribed, that is the current equality legislation under which the system works.

The decision whether to baptise a child is a decision for the parents and it is up to them to decide the denomination of their child. That is the parents' right. Every child has a right to go to school. It is only the parent who wishes the child to attend an over-subscribed school who is faced with this dilemma. My personal view is that I do not believe anybody should baptise a child simply to get the child into a school. I reiterate that the equality legislation allows a school which is over-subscribed to make the decision on the basis of protecting the ethos of the school.

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