Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much agree with Deputy Eamon Ryan's initial sentiments on this issue and I will consider whether we should include other thinkers in the dialogue in the meeting that is going to happen in July and whether we should precede that with some sort of debate here in the House as well.

When I talk about a new covenant, I suppose what I mean is what I said at the time - a relationship in which the church and faith-based organisations are no longer at the centre of Irish life but one in which they still have a place. That is what I would like the main topic and the high-level topic of the discussion in July to be about. It is not for me to determine the outcome of that dialogue but to offer my opinion. It is probably a new relationship that is more about pluralism than about absolute secularism. That means, for example, in education greater choice for parents through the availability of more Educate Together schools, community national schools and Gaelscoileanna, and the divestment of some existing religious schools to the community sector should parents want that, while still having a role for State funding of faith-based charities and voluntary organisations, whether those are our hospices like the St. Francis Hospice and Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services. An absolute secularist approach would see their funding taken away or their being taken over and the voluntarism and ethos that exist there removed. I would not agree with that. We see how many faith-based organisations have made a huge contribution to helping us deal with the housing shortage, whether it be Crosscare or Depaul. If we took an absolute secularist approach, we would either defund them or take them over. I am not sure that would be the right approach. In fact, I am sure it would not be.

In terms of school buildings, we have a massive school building programme under way. New schools are being built throughout the country. There are extensions and refurbishments, but there are also a lot of prefabs. They need to be replaced, but as is always the case, we have to prioritise. Due to the demographic bulge that we have had in recent years, we have had to prioritise new schools where there would otherwise have been no school over refurbishments and extensions to remove prefabs. However, as the birth rate falls, and it has been falling for a couple of years, there is an opportunity for us to do more refurbishments and to replace more prefabs in the coming years.

Deputy Boyd Barrett asked specifically about the Dún Laoghaire Educate Together national school. This is something that the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, raised with me only today. I am advised that there are multiple school site requirements in the south Dublin city area, including for the Dún Laoghaire Educate Together national school. Several viable site options have been identified and are being progressed with relevant stakeholders, including State bodies. Once all the critical information is to hand, a determination regarding the optimal configuration of school sites will be made. Officials are working to advance matters as quickly as possible so that a permanent location for Dún Laoghaire Educate Together can be confirmed by the third quarter of next year.

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