Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

Today's debate has been beneficial. I have listened carefully to contributions made by all Deputies, each important and warranting consideration. The Minister, Depute McEntee, who was in the Chamber until just now, has given particular updates and outlines of current work happening within the Department and the planned work to increase the number of multidenominational schools where parents and school communities want this.

In response to the issues raised, and adding to the earlier contribution made by the Minister, it is clear that parental choice is key. It is recognised that more diverse provision is require to cater for our changing society. I am conscious that, as well as parents and guardians, teachers and school staff in our schools are a reflection of modern Ireland. At post-primary level nationally, 48.6% of students are enrolled in multidenominational or interdenominational schools; 47.6% are enrolled in schools with a Catholic ethos; and 2.9% are enrolled in schools with a Church of Ireland ethos. The remaining 0.9% is accounted for by post-primary schools with an ethos other than Catholic, Church of Ireland or interdenominational or multidenominational. Progress has been made toward increasing the number of multidenominational primary schools.

As the Minister set out, there has been a large increase of 87.5%, albeit from a relatively low base of just under 24,000, to more than 44,000 in student enrolments in mainstream multidenominational and interdenominational primary schools over a ten-year period. There are currently 172 primary schools with a multidenominational or interdenominational ethos. This represents 5.5% of primary schools. However, at primary level, we need to do more. This is why I very much welcome that the Minister has set out that she and her Department are developing a framework and an action plan to increase the number of multidenominational primary schools to meet parental demand and the commitment in the programme for Government. As part of delivering on the programme for Government commitment, the Minister intends to launch an online, school-specific survey of parents and school communities on what type of education they would like to see for their children and schools. A separate survey will be made available to school staff and board of management members. In tandem with the proposed survey, the Department of education will be providing clear information for parents and guardians to enable them to make an informed decision about the different types of primary school patronage options.

As the Minister has set out, the schools reconfiguration for diversity process has been developed to support the transfer of schools to multidenominational patrons in response to the wishes of local communities. That is key. The wishes of local communities are what matters here. When a school transfers from the patronage of one patron to another, the school remains open, retains the same roll number and continues operating from the same school property with the same school staff and pupils. It is recognised, including by Catholic patrons, that more diverse provision is required to cater for our changing society.

Patrons have a legal right to design their own programmes in accordance with the ethos of their schools. Religious education is one of the seven curricular areas of the primary school curriculum. However, unlike other subject areas, the content of the religious curriculum provided by primary schools is not set by the Department of education. Section 30 of the Education Act provides that time will be made available in the school day to teach curriculum that arises from the ethos of the school. This means that the content of a religious instruction programme in a particular primary school is determined by the patron of that school.

Denominational schools have played an important role in primary education in Ireland for more than a century. They, along with other primary schools, have a strong history of inclusivity in serving their local communities and have accepted children of all faiths and none. As the Minister referenced, the provisions of Article 44 of the Constitution recognise the rights of children to attend school without attending religious instruction at that school. Furthermore, the provisions of section 30(2)(e) of the Education Act 1998 provide that a school "shall not require any student to attend instruction in any subject which is contrary to the conscience of the parent [or guardian] of the student or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student". It is expected that this right will be upheld by schools on foot of a parental request. The provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 requires that where schools provide religious instruction, they must clearly set out their admissions policies and the "school's arrangements ... [for] student[s], where the parent ... or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, has requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction". The manner in which any school ensures that right to not attend religion instruction classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned. Each school must determine the particular arrangements that are appropriate in its individual circumstances, having regard to local issues such as available space, supervision requirements and how the school concerned organises classes.

The Department of Education and Youth is working with education partners to assist schools to strengthen their approach in providing for diverse enrolments in a changing society. Guidance for good practice is available to schools in the follow-up paper to the report of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, which was published in 2014. The paper provides an overview of the different types of arrangements that schools have put in place to facilitate parents who do not wish for their children to attend religious instruction activities. The paper encourages school authorities to consider their policies and practices and to review whether they are taking the steps necessary to welcome all pupils and make them feel included. The Catholic schools partnership has also published guidelines for Catholic schools on the inclusion of all pupils. This also contains suggestions on how such schools can manage requests to attend school without attending religious instruction.

The Government has committed to holding a convention that will bring together all stakeholders in education. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has committed to ensuring the convention will reflect the Ireland of today in all its diversity and, in particular, the voices of children and young people, their parents, their guardians, education stakeholders and the voices of wider society. It is also important we reflect on how best to provide for what is working well in education, what challenges are beginning to emerge and what actions we need to take to address these challenges and examine what needs to be changed. The Government's goal with the convention is to develop an ambitious vision and programme of work for education that will deliver both over the coming years and in the medium-term future.

The Government recognises the importance of parental choice and is committed to seeking to increase the choice for parents by ensuring families can access both multidenominational and nondenominational and faith-based education in line with the programme for Government commitment. We will therefore establish the level of parental demand for primary schools their children attend now or will attend in the future and to change to a multidenominational ethos by commencing the planned survey of primary school communities. We will take any necessary steps to ensure patronage transfers are facilitated where parents and school communities support this. We will continue to progress the reconfiguration process with the goal of establishing a strong process that has the support of patrons and local communities and which will enable us to continue to increase the number of multidenominational primary schools across the country. We will also ensure the Department of Education and Youth continues to engage with key stakeholders on the reconfiguration process and to support the school communities when schools are transferring patronage.

The focus of the Department of Education and Youth is on maximising the use of existing school estate by facilitating the transfer of patronage of existing denominational schools rather than establishing new multidenominational schools where that is the preference of local school communities. This provides the most cost-effective method for delivering on the programme for Government commitment to increase the choice for parents by ensuring that families can access both multidenominational and nondenominational and faith-based education. As the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has stated, the Government recognises the importance of parental choice and we are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued, actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

I thank everyone for their contributions to today's debate and I ask the House to support the Government's countermotion.

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