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

Expressions of concern about this are not enough. We have an extraordinary situation which could have been resolved if the Minister told the Christian Brothers that it is not taking the pitches to pay off the redress scheme because that is punishing future generations of kids for the crimes of the Christian Brothers against past generations of kids. The Minister should have done that at the beginning.

This also raises the extraordinary situation whereby schools which are publicly funded are run by patron bodies which, it seems, are accountable to nobody. They are not accountable to the Government which funds them.

It is absolutely ridiculous. Now ERST, which is supposed to be protecting the interests of the school, is threatening to dissolve a school board which has been exemplary. There should be no question of its being dissolved as its members have defended the interests of the school and its playing pitches. The board should be commended and the Minister should get behind it, by telling the Christian Brothers and ERST where to get off. In what sense is ERST acting in the interests of the school? It is demanding to sell lands for €18 million to pay a debt which is only €9 million so where is the rest of the money going? Is there a conflict of interest here? What are ERST and the brothers going to do with the rest of the money?

The Minister needs to get off the fence and tell the Christian Brothers there is no way we will dissolve a board which has done fantastic work to defend the school. He also needs to step in to resolve this in a way that secures the pitches for the school for the future.

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