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

It is regrettable that the Tánaiste has dodged the question completely here. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Education and Skills in parliamentary questions in recent weeks, but he has avoided the question entirely. I have read a quote in which the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills sets out his understanding of what multidenominational education is. Any fair reading of that quote would suggest that how the Secretary General sees multidenominational education is the exact opposite of what multidenominational education should be. Does the Government agree with the Secretary General's definition? If this is the view of the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, something needs to be done about it. We cannot have the senior person of the Department dictating what the policy for the future of our schools is going to be if he has such an outdated, outmoded and ill-informed view of what multidenominational education is. Will the Tánaiste tell us that he agrees with the Secretary General's views, or disassociate himself from those views? It is an important question.

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