Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes. Last night in my contribution, I was talking about the fact that a couple of groups who are campaigning in this area for the removal of the baptism barrier have received their own independent legal advice to the effect that it would be perfectly constitutional to remove section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act. I do not accept what the Minister is saying in this regard. I believe this issue needs to be tested. There is a clear precedent that when dealing with competing constitutional rights and legislation, the courts do not impose views on the balance struck. That is what we were talking about last night, namely, the balance that is already contained within the Constitution. Instead, the court's attempt is to determine whether the legislation is so contrary to reason and fairness that it constitutes an unjust attack on the individual's constitutional rights. It is very difficult to see how addressing this issue in a reasonable and proportionate manner would be deemed to amount to such a breach, particularly in light of the court's reluctance to overrule the Oireachtas on matters of social policy.

However, as we have previously stated, the Social Democrats do not believe that the possibility of legislation being tested in the Supreme Court or the potential need for a referendum should be used to impede the necessary reforms from taking place. Too often we hear constitutional impediments being used as an excuse for not taking action. Either they are impediments or they are not. If they prove to be impediments, then we have to deal with that. We cannot use that concern as an excuse to long-finger something that is a blatant area of discrimination against many of our citizens.

To date, no legislation, Government or Opposition, that is currently before the House substantively addresses this issue, and yet there is a clear need for us to act now. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that we make the necessary amendments to eliminate discrimination when it comes to school admissions. Indeed, only yesterday, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission published a range of recommendations, including that the Equal Status Act be amended to give effect to the principle that no child should be given preferential access to a publicly funded school on the basis of her or his religion. I look forward to the Minister's response to this recommendation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

Even if we are to leave aside this matter for the time being, there remain other issues in the Bill as it stands that are matters for concern and that need to be improved on Committee Stage. For example, the Bill does not provide clear guidelines on the question of opting out of faith formation, nor does it, as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission noted in its recommendations, provide the Minister with the power to regulate how schools provide for these students. Again, the strong argument is that we should be requesting schools to move religious classes, faith formation classes in particular, to either the start or the end of the school day to facilitate those students whose parents wish them to opt out. It is important that the Minister takes the lead on this and that he provides guidelines on how schools should do that. Parents need to know that their child will not be excluded from their school community due to not subscribing to the dominant faith of their school. A decision must be made on when it is appropriate for faith information to be taught and at what point during the school day.

If we are to allow this Bill to pass in its current form, it will undoubtedly be a wasted opportunity to address some of the clearest failings of our education system when it comes to admission to schools and to recognise and respect the diversity which exists in society. It is not a defensible position for the Minister to allow a situation to continue in which schools can discriminate against four and five year olds solely on the basis of their religious persuasion. The State simply cannot continue to abdicate its responsibility in this regard. I call on the Minister, yet again, to take this responsibility seriously, to recognise and respect the diversity we have in society and to indicate that he is open to considering amendments on Committee Stage.

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