Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. However, one of the hallmarks of recent years was that there was no serious dialogue with faith leaders because Ministers insisted on talking through the media rather than face to face. There has been a great deal of talk about the issue schools, which is important. Hopefully, we can see some real progress on both enhancing and protecting choice. It should not be a question of trying to get anybody, but should be about facilitating choice for parents and pupils. I put it to the Taoiseach that there is a much wider issue at hand and it probably relates somewhat to the previous question. We are in a period where internationally, religious intolerance and fundamentalism are growing rapidly. In parts of Europe once defined by religious tolerance, the promotion of intolerance is reaching extreme proportions. In certain countries, anti-semitism is widely found while in others Islamophobia is increasing dramatically. We must be very clear that Ireland rejects this growing intolerance. The effective means to do so is to redouble efforts to support permanent inter-faith dialogue. That may involve reflecting on the existing structured dialogue to see if it can be enhanced.

Can there be more regular ways of meeting, not just to engage in a formulaic manner but to examine everything that we do in the country in order to determine whether it is advancing religious tolerance and undermining any drift towards fundamentalism? Will the Taoiseach agree to convene discussions on how we might move forward and ensure we increase the understanding of other faiths among young people, in particular? Schools teach religion and, in some respects, young people today are more knowledgeable about other religions than we were when we were growing up and attending school, but there may be a need for further programmes to take that teaching out of the classroom to a certain extent, to use the good work that has been done in the classroom - some very good work has been done, as a result of which young people have a better understanding in some respects of the origins of various religions - and to bring greater momentum and encouragement to the idea of tolerating other faiths. Perhaps the convening of discussions might be a useful way to start.

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