Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Let us be clear. There has been a rebellion against the religious segregation required by the Goodness Me, Goodness You curriculum that was set. The Minister should confirm that programme was not set by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, although the community national schools' brochure claim it was. In fact, it was commissioned to Dr. Clare Maloney of the Marino Institute of Education, probably under the influence of the Catholic bishops at the time. The Catholic Church was the only religious denomination to intervene in the process.

At the time, it said the basic requirement would be that religious instruction and formation of Catholic children in the faith by a qualified teacher during the school day would be a minimum non-negotiable requirement for new multi-denominational primary schools.

No other religious denomination wanted to interfere or felt it was even appropriate to bring this into the schools, but the Catholic Church demanded that. At the time, Mary Hanafin took it away from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, and gave it to the Marino Institute which came up with a curriculum that required religious segregation. However, those schools are now rebelling, voting with their feet and saying it is not acceptable. Will the Minister rewrite the curriculum or get the NCCA to do it?

See this speech in context