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

I will speak to amendments Nos. 6, 31 and 139 which concern the same issue. They would place a requirement on schools to place religious instruction or what is referred to as faith formation at the end of the school day in order that children who do not share the same belief system as that of the patron could avoid participating in it.

Parents have a constitutional right to have their children opt out of religious instruction and the only meaningful way this can be vindicated is if it is pushed to the end of the school day. Having religious instruction class within the school day entails segregating children and that is not a good practice. Within a school we should not divide or segregate children on the basis of their religion. We should be trying to encourage mutually respectful situations in our schools and respect for diversity and difference. One does not encourage that view by separating and segregating children.

The proposal for religious instruction classes to happen outside the regular school day is reasonable. If the school finishes at 2.30 p.m., it can happen then for the convenience of parents. Nobody has any difficulty with different denominational groups using a publicly-funded premises for instruction for convenience purposes. For children who do not share the belief system for which there is a religious instruction class, it is very important that this change is made.

I was concerned to hear the Minister last night making a reference to children of no religion going to Educate Together schools. That comment absolutely misses the point. It may have been a slip of the tongue. Educate Together schools are not schools for people of no religion; they are multidenominational schools and the multidenominational aspect of the school is one of the four key principles underpinning Educate Together. It is about respect for difference and bringing children together from different socioeconomic backgrounds, from different faith systems or none, and from different areas so that there is a vibrant mix within the school. It is really good for young people to work with, play with and be in the same classroom as people from different backgrounds and who have different views. It creates a great dynamic in schools to have that kind of diversity and that is what the Educate Together model is very much about. I was lucky to have been involved in the first Educate Together school on the north side of Dublin in 1983 and my own three children were able to attend, as was Deputy Burton's daughter. We very much valued the richness that came from a school that valued diversity and that is what our education system should be about. It should be about bringing children together and not separating them or dividing them.

Last night we talked about patronage and the baptism barrier but even within a school that has a denominational patronage, we should still strive to bring children together and respect difference and diversity, rather than drawing attention to difference. It is often seen as penalising children if they have to be taken out of a class to do something else and it separates them from their peers, which is not a good thing: it is not good practice to do that. For far too long the State has been quite happy to outsource education and healthcare to religious organisations but we should now be able to move beyond that. We should be a modern republic and ensure our institutions reflect that. Part and parcel of this is developing our own civic ethic but there has been very little time or consideration put into this. What is the moral code we want our young people and older people to live by? Can we have a debate about how we encourage respect for difference, honesty and integrity in our young people? There is a way of doing that which also includes respecting people who have a particular religious belief system. The way to do it is through a general course provided within schools. It is not one denomination over another but is about what the Educate Together schools call the core curriculum. This curriculum is devised by parents and staff in the school and reflects the moral code which we should all be striving to live by. It does not exclude anybody. It is about bringing people together, having mutual respect, treating people well, being honest, understanding and recognising different belief systems and accommodating all of that in an inclusive way rather than in a way that divides.

I strongly appeal to the Minister to listen to the views of so many parents from all backgrounds, from all religious belief systems and none, who want their children to be part of an inclusive society for which we should be striving. Separating people for religious instruction absolutely works against that objective.

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