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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

A plenary meeting with representatives from churches, faith communities and non-confessional organisations was held on Thursday, 4 July 2019 in Dublin Castle. The meeting was organised as part of the Church State Structured Dialogue Process, which was established in 2005 and forms part of the Government's commitment to carry out a wide-ranging and inclusive consultation on public policy.

Representatives from 28 organisations attended the plenary, including representatives from the Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Dharmic faiths as well as representatives from the Humanist Association of Ireland and Atheist Ireland. I was accompanied by several Government Ministers, including the Ministers for Business, Enterprise and Innovation; Children and Youth Affairs; Employment Affairs and Social Protection; Housing, Planning and Local Government; and Education and Skills and the Minister of State with special responsibility for equality, immigration and integration.

Discussions focused on three main themes. They were effective structured dialogue, inclusive and diverse communities and education. The themes were developed based on questions for discussion submitted in advance by the participants. The meeting offered a good opportunity to discuss what a new relationship between church and State might look like and facilitated a sharing of viewpoints on a variety of topics.

The main actions arising from the plenary are to agree how the new relationship will be structured and how it would work going forward, to review Article 17 of the Treaty of the Functioning on the European Union process and other international best practice, to establish a contact person and permanent secretariat for the relationship and to explore more funding for local initiatives. Ministers also agreed to follow up directly with participants on matters relevant to their Departments bilaterally.

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