Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That would be a welcome development. I understand the structured dialogue process did not happen because of other developments since the election. We need tolerance and a pluralist society. Increasingly, I am of the view that we need a secular society. We need to tackle the issue of sectarianism on this island, particularly but not exclusively in the North. Still a deep-rooted difficulty, the "isms" of racism and sectarianism are used to create artificial divisions between people. Across the island people want a different set of values, one that allows people with religious beliefs to practise them. It is a matter of personal faith or beliefs.

Major issues need to be tackled specifically, for example, the Government's commitment to divesting the Catholic Church of its schools estate. I listened to Archbishop Martin's views on same and he was progressive. Five years ago the then Government announced that the patronage of 50% of schools would change by 2012. That has not happened. I understand only eight schools have been divested by the Catholic Church. As opposed to a philosophical discussion, we could have a discussion on a real issue. Last week the Minister for Education and Skills stated he intended to establish a working group to discuss with Catholic patrons how the transfer of patronage could be accelerated. It would be useful if the Taoiseach were to clarify when the working group would be established and when we could expect to see a report.

As the structured dialogue has not begun, I take it that the Government has not held a formal discussion on the issue of admission to schools where baptism is used to discriminate against children and to prevent parents from enrolling their children in local schools. There are major issues that affect humanity in a global sense, whereas these specific issues affect children and the type of society we want. Clearly, parental choice is a factor in many cases, but we must ensure education is available to all and should not be conditional on whether a child has been baptised. When does the Taoiseach expect the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill to be reinstated and has the Government considered amending the Equal Status Act to ensure local schools will be required to give priority to local children, irrespective of their religion or lack thereof?

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