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

I will bring the Deputy's views and concerns back to the Minister. Engagement on the three schools the Deputy referred to in Raheny is ongoing and no decision in respect of the transfer of patronage from the Catholic patron to a multidenominational one has been made at this stage. As part of the structured engagement process, information meetings with the facilitator have been set up with parents in the three schools. The facilitator will provide them with information on the process, answer queries and provide an opportunity for parents to share their views. Parents and the school community can also email the Department at reconfiguration_dublin@education.gov.ieto ask questions or share their views.

As part of the structured engagement process, the facilitator and school patrons, or the patrons' representatives where appropriate, review the engagement as part of each information session with the school community. The facilitator writes a preliminary report reflecting the engagement with the school authorities, staff and parents and submits this to the patron. In pilot areas where the engagement has already progressed to this stage, the facilitator's preliminary report to the patron was circulated to the full school community and a dedicated reconfiguration email address was provided so that the school community, including parents, could provide feedback or views. The Department collated this and provided it to the relevant facilitator.

As the Deputy knows, this is an ongoing engagement process with the school community and I encourage the school community in this and other areas where the pilot engagement process is in train to share their views with facilitators and the Department. The overarching aim of this process is to offer greater choice to parents in areas where the availability of multidenominational schools is limited.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will bring his points to the Minister.

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