Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Cummins for bringing this motion to the Dáil. It is a topic I hold dear to my heart.

In my personal experience with my own children, I had little choice when I lived in Belfast prior to the Good Friday Agreement. I sent my children to the local Catholic school, particularly for protection at that time, given what was going on and the attacks on schools. It was for safety purposes. When I returned to Dublin with my young family, I wanted a more diverse education for my children. A group of us parents went about setting up the Griffith Barracks multidenominational educational setting. It involved a lot of hard work and some novel actions being taken by parents who just wanted a different approach. I shout out to them. I am very proud of that school, which has grown enormously. There is a great sense of safety in it school and a great sense of creativity.

In my party's manifesto in 2024, we commited to developing a strategy to support existing and emerging demands for increased diversification of patronage in schools. The Government's 2020 programme for Government committed to having 400 non-denominational and multidenominational schools by the end of the decade but this commitment is curiously missing from the 2025 programme. The Government is out of step with our communities in this respect. I am disappointed by the proposed amendment, which dilutes everything.

Yesterday, Deputy Jen Cummins presented a session with Educate Together, which has opened 50 multidenominational schools since 2013. No new Educate Together schools are planned, however, despite extremely high demand. In Dublin South-Central, the constituency I share with Deputy Cummins, the Educate Dublin 8 group has been working towards the objective of establishing a new secondary school in Dublin which is inclusive and multidenominational. However, due to lack of availability in the area, nearly half the children in the area are taking a bus out of their area to ten schools elsewhere. They need a school in their own community.

A survey by the Yellow Flag Programme found that a quarter of post-primary students feel their ethnic or cultural identity is not reflected in the classroom. Multidenominational schools can help address the deficiency of inclusivity. The Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, for whom I have a great respect, stated, "Having children and young people driving inclusion ... is the secret of changing society over the long term."

The Minister has said she intends to launch a survey of primary school communities shortly on parents' preference regarding the ethos of schools. We cannot afford to delay this any longer. It must be undertaken immediately in order to implement desperately needed changes for the children of Ireland.

I will be voting for Deputy Cummins's and the Social Democrats' motion and against the amendment.

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