Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tá a fhios ag an Teachta go bhfuil níos mó ná 3,000 scoil ar fud na tíre agus gur leo an Eaglais Chaitliceach an chuid is mó dóibh siúd. Is é an tArdeaspag Ó Máirtín féin a dúirt liom go raibh an iomarca scoileanna ag an Eaglais agus gur mhiste leis go mbeadh cuid acu siúd curtha amach i dtreo is go mbeadh daoine in ann oibriú leo gan creideamh faoi leith a bheith á múineadh sa scoil sin, ach ag an am céanna go mbeadh sé láncheart go mbeadh scoileanna faoi leith ag an Eaglais Chaitliceach ina mbeadh an creideamh sin á múineadh dosna daltaí.

In response to the question on baptismal certificates, it is the responsibility of the managerial authority of all schools to ensure that their premises are run in accordance with the Education Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000. Parents can choose which school to send their children to and where the school has available places, the pupils should be admitted. Where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process may be necessary. That selection process, and the enrolment policy on which it is based, have to be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. This may result in some pupils not achieving a place.

I agree with the Deputies that a baptismal certificate should not be the criterion but Catholic schools accommodate all applications, regardless of religion or none when there is room available to do so.

This is about common sense. The phenomenon of pupils being unable to secure a place of their choice occurs only where there is an oversubscription to a particular school. Baptismal certificates may be used by Catholic and Protestant patrons in these circumstances to demonstrate denomination so that oversubscribed schools with a particular religious ethos can offer places to pupils within the denomination.

Everybody is aware of the Educate Together movement which obviously provides an opportunity for many of the parents, who have an issue here, to send their children to school. From an historical point of view, if there are three or four Catholic schools in a location, it is difficult to get parents or boards of management to agree that a particular school should be divested to any other patronage. That is an issue that always requires some sensitive discussions. The vast majority of schools that are Catholic do not discriminate in the sense of the religious ethos of any pupils who might go there except where there is overcrowding and they have to make a choice.

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