Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy can ask the question, but I am not going to give an answer that is not properly informed. I have not spoken to the Secretary General concerned and I am certainly not going to disassociate myself from him in the context of the positive work that the Department of Education and Skills has been doing in this tricky area. The Government supports diversity of educational patronage. Seeking new multidenominational or non-denominational patrons is part of what we are doing. Removing the right to use religion as a basis for selection when schools are facing choices in terms of future students is something we are addressing comprehensively in this legislation. Ensuring the right to opt out of religious programmes in schools is now going to be respected. We are going to put systems in place that can deliver on that. It is important to say that the previous initiative by the former Minister, Ruairí Quinn, which was welcome at the time, produced just ten new patronage schools across the country. We now have a new approach that is designed to accelerate the delivery of much more diversity of patronage of primary schools across the country. I think we can achieve that with the current approach that is being led by the Minister, Deputy Bruton.

See this speech in context