Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position with regard to the schools reconfiguration engagement process that is ongoing in a number of pilot areas nationwide, including a number of primary schools in the Raheny area.

In March this year, the Minister for Education announced that arrangements were being put in place for a number of towns and areas in cities that have no multidenominational primary schools at present as part of the pilot reconfiguration initiative. This work involves identifying potential schools and engaging with school authorities, staff and the school communities, including parents, with a view to agreeing on a transfer of patronage and change of ethos where there is sufficient demand for this.

Where a school transfers from one patron to another, it remains open with the same roll number and operating on the same school property. All State-funded primary schools follow a common national curriculum and are subject to the same rules and regulations, as the Deputy knows. The council for education of the Irish episcopal conference, representing the Catholic patrons, and relevant bishops have confirmed their willingness to engage and co-operate fully with the Department of Education in seeking to facilitate a more diverse school patronage in these towns and cities. The pilot areas are part of the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick and the Arklow, Athlone, Dundalk and Youghal areas.

The Department has made available a number of independent facilitators across the pilot areas to work with the school patron and relevant school authorities at a local level to progress the reconfiguration pilot initiative and engage with stakeholders, including school authorities, staff and parents. The work aims to agree on a transfer of patronage and change of ethos to multidenominational, where there is sufficient demand for this in the pilot areas.

Among the pilot areas being engaged with to consider if there is demand for the transfer patronage and change of ethos to multidenominational are three schools, Naíscoil Íde, Scoil Áine and Scoil Assaim, in the Raheny area. For clarity, no decision has been taken to transfer patronage of any of the three schools. There is an ongoing engagement process. In this respect, the relevant facilitator has met the school authorities and staff. Dates have been set for the facilitator's information meetings with parents of children in the three schools.

A key part of the structured engagement process in the pilot area is the information meeting with parents, where the facilitator makes a presentation to parents providing information on the school's reconfiguration process initiative, including information on what this may mean for parents and pupils and setting out the steps in the engagement process. At the information meetings with the facilitator, parents will have the opportunity to raise any questions and share their views.

The information meetings are useful from the perspective of the facilitator and patron representative in helping to gauge the level of demand for a transfer of patronage and change of ethos. Parents can share their views at the information meetings with the facilitator and also by email to the Department for Education's reconfiguration email address. Such correspondence will be shared with the relevant facilitator.

The Deputy called for an independent facilitator and patron body representatives to meet, and asked that the Minister intervene. I will bring those views back to the Minister.

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