Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Can the Taoiseach tell the House when the Minister for Education and Skills will introduce the Bill on school patronage that he spoke about? He must agree that the expectation and demand among a growing number of people is for equality in education, and one would have thought that the priority of the Minister would be to outlaw discrimination against children on the basis of their religion. I wonder if the Taoiseach read Colette Browne's article. I am not one for plugging the Irish Independent, but I do on this occasion. The headline states that children will pay the price for surrender on the baptism barrier. I ask the Taoiseach to re-examine that, because the Bill we are hearing about would lead to the segregation of children several times a week - at least once a day - for religious instruction. It has been well proven that this carries into the playground, where children cluster into groups with those of their own ethnic background. Is the Taoiseach going for the easy option in regard to this, the one he believes the Catholic Church will accept and that will not rock its boat? Is he aware that only two schools were divested by the Catholic Church since this entire process was mooted under the former Minister, Ruairí Quinn? It would seem there is no appetite on behalf of the Catholic Church to surrender control, but it is accepting this as the best situation it can get, and it seems to be well disposed to it. However, it has been pointed out by Atheist Ireland that the consequence of the Bill is that it could make the situation worse because some Catholic schools would become less Catholic-----

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