Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)

I am sharing time with a couple of colleagues. I thank my colleague, Jen Cummins, for all her work on this motion. I also acknowledge the huge work done by parents across the country who are campaigning to get an education without religious instruction for their child. Parents should not have to campaign to get the basics for their child. I thank the Minister for attending and for her contribution. She said parents choose the school they send their child to but, of course, many parents cannot choose the school for their child. I meet parents all the time in my constituency who wanted to send their child to a school without religious instruction but did not have that option. Numerous parents who are atheists have to send their children to religious schools. Then they are left with an impossible choice as to whether they remove their child from religious instruction.

They are sitting at the back of the room and are excluded. What parent wants to have their child excluded or to have to go through religious instruction that is completely contrary to the parent's values and beliefs? I have been talking to parents in my constituency who say their child comes home having been taught things in religious instruction that they absolutely do not agree with. That is very distressing for parents and is not what they should be put through, given their belief systems. I have massive respect for people of all religions and people of no religion. This is about ensuring that parents, families and children who do not want to receive religious instruction are not put through that and are not denied their rights.

The Minister said she has no targets. The previous Government had targets that it was nowhere near to meeting. The reason the Minister has no targets is that she wants to find out information, find out what the picture is and then act on it. Unfortunately, this is what has been said for years, with Government after Government saying they need to do surveys and find out what the picture is. At least the last Government had some level of targets. If there are no targets in an area and no level of ambition, then we have no ability to measure progress or hold to account the Minister and the Department regarding progress.

The education system in Ireland today should reflect the Ireland of today. That is what this motion is about. There have been huge changes in Ireland since many of us went to school but that is not reflected in our education system or in the choices that parents and their children can make. In my constituency, one of the things that parents point out to me is that there are areas with higher house prices that have a level of choice in terms of schools and denominations, but in areas with more average or lower house prices, given many families cannot afford the areas with higher house prices, they do not have the same choices. People are being put at a disadvantage due to their economic status regarding where they can send their children to school, which is relevant to their religious education. Of course, this leads to children having to travel further to a school that meets their family’s values. In terms of building communities, that does not work for reasons including traffic congestion and segregation.

I have talked to many teachers in my constituency who feel deeply uncomfortable that they are forced to teach religious instruction they do not believe to children whose parents do not believe in it. They really want that hypocrisy to end.

See this speech in context