Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Deputies for their contributions to an interesting debate on what is an important and complex issue. The basic aim of the Government is to use our economic success to create a fair and compassionate society and, ultimately, to make life a little easier for people. A key part of this is making it easier for parents and children to access more easily local schools which reflect their values and needs. Therefore, we are taking two major steps to deliver on this. First, as the Minister, Deputy Bruton, said, we are publishing and enacting a new admissions Bill which will reform the process of school admissions, including banning waiting lists and admission fees, and requiring more information and consultation for parents throughout the process. Second, we will increase the rate of delivering the new multidenominational and non-denominational schools to reach a total of 400 such schools by 2030. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, is currently developing a plan to deliver on this.

We also recognise we need to deal with the situation whereby some religious schools, when they are oversubscribed, admit children of their own religion from some distance away ahead of children of other religions or no religion who live close by. That is why we are supporting the principle of the Labour Party Bill. It is important, of course, to remember that only 20% of schools are oversubscribed and, therefore, the vast majority of schools are unaffected by this issue.

It is clear from the debate there is broad consensus that children should have access to their local schools and that this is particularly important at primary level. However, it is also clear from the discussion on this matter that the amendments proposed by Labour involve significant legal, constitutional and operational issues. Given the complexity of the issues at play and the imperative of balancing all of the competing rights, this proposal needs to be thought through carefully to ensure the consequences of the measure are as intended and to avoid unintended consequences. Furthermore, a number of potentially significant legal and constitutional issues arise from consideration in regard to the proposed amendments. Therefore, there are a number of serious questions about the approach proposed in this Bill, in particular in regard to the issues of competing rights and unintended consequences that could have an adverse impact on the schools of minority denominations. The Bill must also take into account the potential impact on and distortion of school transport policy and provision. The issue of catchment areas for schools needs to be examined, with due respect to the importance of the established geographic boundaries and organisation, as well as taking into account the experience of other jurisdictions and the views of stakeholders.

In light of this, we believe the Bill should be delayed for 12 months. I disagree with Deputy Joan Burton, who said we were dilly-dallying, and with Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who said we were kicking this down the road. We are delaying it for 12 months to allow time for scrutiny and consideration of the aforementioned matters by the new Joint Committee on Education and Skills, which I believe is a very reasonable approach. We will also consider the admissions Bill, which is due to be published shortly and which contains a series of measures on which there is broad agreement and which can quickly improve the admissions process for parents and children across the country. That should proceed on a separate track and not be allowed to be held up by the very complex and difficult issues raised in this Bill.

To conclude, I thank the Labour Party for this proposal. After consideration by the Oireachtas committee, I believe we will be in a better position to bring forward amendments to the Equal Status Act that can capture the complex legal, constitutional and operational elements in this area.

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