Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleague, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and I compliment the Minister on the quality, extent and structure of the legislation. It is required and it is an improvement on existing law, catering for all needs as anticipated. There was a need to carry this out in a non-discriminatory way and the Bill does that. We live in changing times, with changing demands and pressures, particularly arising from the urbanisation that has taken place in many of our constituencies. There are variations between the circumstances pertaining in those areas and less populated rural areas, and the Bill takes full account of that. I hope the regulations proposed by the Minister and the provision for reference to the Minister will eliminate the difficulties that could arise or which have arisen in the past prior to the introduction of the Bill.

Parents looking around for a school to which they would like to send a child can find it very stressful if they make repeated applications to a particular school in the immediate area without success. A school may well have reasons of its own for not allowing the application which are sometimes valid and sometimes not so valid; sometimes they do not appear to be valid. The Bill will address those issues and as a result of its introduction, there will be greater transparency and tendency to accommodate people, with more emphasis on accommodation than there was in the past. I am not suggesting for a moment that after the passage of the Bill we will achieve all we wanted as there will always be issues arising from time to time. The system relating to admission, including admission of children with special needs, discipline and expulsion is dealt with in the Bill but there must be a third party arbitrator to examine the process at arm's length from local circumstances. For example, it might apply when people of different religions, ethnic backgrounds or special needs are involved. From time to time we have come across cases where it would appear the ethnic origin of a child appeared to influence policy on admission or, even more so, with regard to expulsion.

We Irish travel all over the world and we emigrated everywhere. It was not always from a war zone as we were economic emigrants. I would like to think we could accommodate those who travel to our country and treat them in a way we would like to be treated ourselves in their quest for education in foreign lands. Perhaps we were not always treated the way we should have been, although generally speaking we were accommodated. The Bill goes a long way towards addressing some of those issues and I hope the theme of fairness strongly represented in the Bill will manifest itself in the time to come in a way that will illustrate to parents and children throughout the community that the legislation is intent on following a certain procedure.

I hope it will also advertise to the community at large that things are being done in a fair fashion. There is the old story that everything must be fair and be seen to be fair.

The secrecy that can surround decisions that appear to have two or three meanings, none of which apply to the benefit of applicants, has to go. The Minister is to be complimented on introducing that theme of fairness and transparency into the situation now. If parents feel they have to go outside their local areas to gain access to schools for their children, there must be issues with the local schools that have to be dealt with. There might be insufficient accommodation in those schools, or the parents might feel the quality of education in them is insufficient to meet their requirements. Such issues arise from time to time as schools develop their reputations in local communities. Like politicians, schools can establish reputations that are good or not so good. We all strive to have the better side of that argument if we can.

The Minister will recall our discussions about post-primary schools in my local area. I am grateful for the approval by the Minister and his predecessor of the provision of two post-primary schools in Maynooth. The sheer pressure of numbers meant that the approval of these schools had to happen. Some children have gone to schools outside the local area in recent times because of the pressure that is building. I am reliably informed that a system-built structure can be incorporated in the construction process, with huge benefits from the point of view of the delivery of the contract and with very little financial impact. It is hugely beneficial in terms of the speed of construction. The Minister might think about that when the time comes. It is not too far away.

While I am being parochial, I should mention that a gaelcholáiste is required in my local area. One should never travel too far from Tip O'Neill's saying that "all politics is local". He said that in the good old days when politics in certain parts of the world was very honourable and certain criteria were strictly understood and adhered to. I remind the Minister that we are still striving for a gaelcholáiste. Like his predecessor, he has been well disposed towards this project. We know it is in the offing and we want to make sure it does not slip away or get pushed aside by other competing demands. In this business, we all know about competing demands. My philosophy is that those demands which are competing also have to compete. We hope that in the current circumstances, the gaelcholáiste will receive favourable support and provision in the next year or so.

If many of the provisions of the Bill before the House are operated and become part of the philosophy of education, this could be a modernising and futuristic enactment the likes of which we have not had access to before. While it was always possible for requests to be made to the Minister in the past, I do not think they carried the same weight as they will carry as a result of the provisions of this Bill. An appeal to the Minister in circumstances in which there has been a failure to accede to or provide for the system of openness, fairness and transparency that is endemic in this Bill will bring about a beneficial response. If that were not the case, I do not think these provisions would have been included in this legislation in the first place. They are in place for a purpose.

I cannot talk about school admissions without referring briefly to the issue of bullying in many primary and secondary schools. Many victims of bullying are afraid to talk about the serious problems caused by it. Even though there are frameworks for making complaints and provisions in place to bring it to the attention of teachers and patrons that something has gone wrong, fear on the part of the victims of bullying often prohibits action from being taken and prevents the reporting of incidents by those concerned. All Deputies have heard complaints along these lines. The Bill may have a considerable impact on this area, and so it should because this has become a serious issue, particularly where there appears to be competition between bullies of one sort or another as to who can have the most serious impact on victims. It is in the nature of things that there can be tragic consequences if bullying goes unchecked for a sufficiently long period of time. There have been such consequences in many cases. We have all dealt with such cases. I would like to think that in the course of the operation of this legislation, in conjunction with other Education Acts, particular emphasis will be placed on paying attention to reports of bullying, including cyberbullying, physical bullying and mental torture by way of texts. The perpetrators must be identified and it must be explained to them that what they are doing may have consequences for them and for their victims.

I hope the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 will be effective and adequately comprehensive to deal with the issues that are arising and are likely to arise in the future. I hope all patrons and boards of management in all denominational and non-denominational schools will have sufficient administrative procedures available to them, and will show sufficient commitment, to adhere to what the Bill purports to do. If that is the case, this Bill will be of considerable benefit to children, the community at large and the future adult population of this country.

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