Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is not my intention in any way to talk down any clock. I am trying to give the House the time and the decency of the explanation that has been prepared to have a decent and proper understanding of what we are trying to achieve.

As an aside, as someone who has been the focal point of heavy criticism in Catholic, right-wing and conservative newspapers and who has been shouted about and criticised from pulpits in churches across the land, I find it remarkable that somehow my or my Department's analysis of this legislation is considered to be coming from a conservative viewpoint. I ask the Deputies to allow me the time to give a constitutional angle and the technical reasons for our arguments.

The objective of the amendment is to provide for the repeal of the current section 7(3)(c) in its entirety. Section 7 generally prohibits discrimination in respect of the admission policy operated by an educational establishment except where it is a primary or post-primary school operating in an environment which promotes certain religious values. In such circumstances, under subsection 7(3)(c) the school may favour the enrolment of students from a particular religious denomination in preference to others or refuse to admit a student who is not of that denomination. However, any preferential admission policy in this regard is only permitted to the extent it is essential to maintaining the religious ethos of the particular school.

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