Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to clarify how schools will be advised as to how this will operate. Will the Minister agree to provide schools with the additional resources? At present, if pupils opt out, often they go somewhere, such as a library or, worse still, maybe to a corridor, or they sit at the back of the class. Parents affected by this have made it clear that they do not want their children in this invidious position.

There has also been many references in the Bill to religious instruction taking place either at the beginning or at the end of the day. We heard that, particularly from some of the groups which came in and addressed the committee. What I am concerned about is whether the Minister will clarify what resources he will put into this? The organisation of this will take considerable resources. It would be better to leave it to the after-school period or to have it early in the school day so that it would involve the minimum disruption.

Many children dislike being left out of what is seen to be an activity of the school. It can be quite invidious and quite alienating for them to be left out, and parents also find it so. It is necessary for the Department of Education and Skills to make it clear to schools that there ought to be discussions in schools about how this sensitive issue is dealt with. One should bear in mind that in many schools in Dublin West, as in many areas around Dublin, there are the 70 to 90 flags of different countries which pupils come from. Many of our schools, at both primary and second level, have 1,000 pupils.

When we talk about people coming from every continent on the globe, we are talking about a lot of religious affiliations and people from different backgrounds. We are also talking about significant numbers of children who may have no religious affiliation. A lot of Catholic and traditional parish schools are extremely welcoming of children from diverse backgrounds. It is, however, very difficult to be inclusive, as schools want to be, when they have religious curriculum at the heart of the school day and when there are some who are not for it, perhaps because they are of a religion that is not the religion of the patron of the school. It is an issue that needs to be faced. School principals are acquiring more and more managerial responsibilities. As the Minister knows, it is becoming more difficult to get a lot of people to apply to become school principals because there are so many sensitive issues that need to be managed. Will he share his thoughts on how he will provide for this in terms of the provision of resources?

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