Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We stand for the complete separation of church and State and for religious instruction to be carried out separately from schooling and entirely protected from any discrimination by the State. Leaving that aside for a moment, within the current framework, constitutional rights are not simply a matter for the schools concerned because the State has a role in vindicating and upholding constitutional rights. In most cases the response to people who express a wish that their children do not have religious instruction or do not have a particular type of religious instruction is problematic. There is no separation of religious instruction in State schools and children whose parents do not want them to participate in religious instruction often sit at the back of the classroom while religion is being taught where they hear and partially participate in the class. There are no set times during which parents can plan to remove their children from the school and there is no provision for separate supervision. Guidelines and instructions are clearly needed in this area.

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