Dáil debates

Thursday, 5 November 2020

Education (Admission to Schools) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members]

 

6:00 pm

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for introducing this timely and important Bill. With respect, it is difficult to believe that the Minister does not support it. It has a basis in equality and I do not know what possible reason she has to object to that. She did not outline any when she spoke. Perhaps she might enlighten the House at some stage.

School places are at a premium in my constituency. In population terms, my constituency is the youngest in the State and one of the fastest growing. Building has not kept pace with demand. In Swords, for example, it is almost as if school admission policies exist to keep pupils out of schools. Every year, we get letters from parents who are frantic because they have one child in a school and have been told that they might not get a place for a younger child. That is frustrating. The Bill is timely because, in examining admission policies, we also need to determine what capacity is required to meet demand.

There is no justification for the current rule. The idea that one can be denied access to a school merely because a parent or grandparent did not attend it is abhorrent. It is shocking that the Minister does not find it abhorrent and that she seems to be okay with the old school tie network. We know why the old school tie works. Recently, we saw in the Dáil how privilege brought with it access, in some instances to the highest levels of government. Despite that, the Minister is prepared to do little to tackle the notion that a child can be denied a place in a school simply because his or her parent did not attend it. Plenty of people have parents who did not attend secondary school. My Dad did not. My Mam did, but if I had needed to rely on that, where would it have left me? Someone could be excluded. That is not right. It surprises me that the Minister can support not taking action. As has been mentioned, even if this legislation is passed following next Wednesday's vote, it will not be rushed through in the blink of an eye. There will still be time to deal with all of the matters the Minister outlined. I find the idea of the old school tie network, the nod and the wink and so on abhorrent. I urge the Minister to join me in that respect.

The impact of this system on a person whose parents were not educated in Ireland or were members of the Traveller community or another ethnic minority serves to exclude people who are not from what might be called the right class, estate or bloodline. That is incredible. I join others in urging the Minister to consider this matter and try to work with those of us in opposition who want to work with the Government, be constructive, use our time in the House wisely and be able to make a real difference. That is why we were elected. We were not elected to sit by and watch while the Government passed its own legislation. We have been elected to work hard for the people we represent.

I will use a minute of my time to raise a local issue with the Minister. I have written to her about it. Will funding be released to St. Nicholas of Myra National School on the Malahide Road? It needs a recreation and physical education hall. It has planning permission. The Minister has often stated that she wants to see shovel-ready capital projects. This is one, but for some reason she is not providing funding. In the middle of a pandemic, it is essential that there be a place for children to gather in their pods. I urge the Minister to reconsider her decision and revisit the idea of providing funding. It is not a large amount of money. The kids need a recreation and exercise facility, particularly in the middle of a pandemic. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is how overcrowded our schools are and the need to change same.

There has been a great deal of discussion in the Chamber, the media and all around about how privilege operates in this State. The Minister will be aware of how it operates. No more than me, she has had a chance to observe it. She has seen how it operates. This Bill is an attempt to break that chain and disrupt the old school tie network. For the life of me, I cannot understand why she does not support it. It would not be enacted overnight, so there would be time to make all of the arrangements that she rightly outlined needed to be made. I urge her to reconsider her decision between now and the vote on Wednesday.

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