Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic of great importance not only in County Monaghan but also nationally. It should be addressed and treated as such.

Monaghan Collegiate School has been teaching students since the 1500s. It is a small school of 247 pupils and operates within the Protestant ethos. It is the only Protestant secondary school in County Monaghan, although there are a number of Protestant national schools in the county. It does more than serve as a school; it also performs a vital function for the minority community in the county. It is important in a republic that parents have a right to choose the faith in which they wish their children to be educated. This is a choice all parents should have, regardless of their religion, and the country must allow for diversity of ethos in schools. Where a need is identified, the Government must support it. A way must be found to keep the current curriculum intact.

The parents who send their children to Monaghan Collegiate School are not part of a wealthy elite who choose to send their children to a private school because of a belief they will secure a better standard of education. They choose to send their children to the school because they want to have them taught in the Protestant faith. The fees for attending the school are very low and not on a par with those quoted for some Dublin schools. It is very important in this day and age that Ireland, being a republic, send a message, particularly in a Border area such as County Monaghan, that this country promotes inclusivity and will not force members of the minority Protestant community to send their children to school across the Border in counties Armagh and Tyrone when they are entitled to have them educated in the Republic.

Monaghan Collegiate has already suffered this year on foot of the loss of its concession and the resulting increase in its pupil-teacher ratio. If pressure is placed on the school to increase the ratio further, specialised teachers in subjects like French will be lost, increasing the chance that parents will send their children to complete their educations across the Border. As the headmaster, Mr. Johnston Reid, put it in his earthy fashion "If you take the goods off the shelf, people will not come into the shop". After September 2013, the effective pupil-teacher ratio will be 29:1, not 23:1. Currently, children are entitled to 28 hours of education per week whereas teachers are only entitled to teach for 22 hours per week. It means that for a headmaster juggling the numbers, the effective ratio is 29:1.

It is vital that funding is secured to ensure the future viability of Monaghan Collegiate. The school is suitable to be funded under peace programmes as a cross-Border project. I cannot stress enough that the community must not be made to feel excluded and marginalised. Monaghan Collegiate has survived for over 400 years and is a testament to the strength and determination of the Protestant community in County Monaghan to educate their children in their own ethos. I have been approached by a large number of parents and students, among whom there is a palpable sense of anger that they are being discriminated against by the Department's one-size-fits-all approach. Monaghan Collegiate is a special case in that it is a Border school. We have a situation whereby less than a mile north of the Border in Aughnacloy and less than three miles from the Border in Newtownhamilton, Protestant schools have been protected over the last 25 years notwithstanding that their pupil-teacher ratio was also under threat.

It is vitally important that the issue is brought to the fore to ensure that parents who want to send their kids to Monaghan Collegiate can do so into the future. It is fine if someone wants to send his or her kids to a multidenominational school, but some parents want to raise their kids in a faith-based school, whether it is Catholic or Protestant. In a republic, we must ensure the right to do so is protected. The changes that are taking place are jeopardising the future of the school, which is a retrograde step.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and I thank Deputy Conlon for providing me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position on the need to protect the future viability of Monaghan Collegiate School.

The Government has protected frontline services in schools to the greatest extent possible in the recent budget and there will be no reduction in teacher numbers in primary schools and free second-level schools for the 2013-14 school year as a result of the budget. DEIS provision for disadvantaged schools is also fully protected with no overall changes to staffing levels or funding as a result of the budget. At post-primary level and in order to promote fairness in the funding of second-level schools, a two-point increase in the pupil teacher ratio in fee-charging second-level schools will be introduced in September 2013. Currently, 55 schools out of 723 post-primary schools charge fees, which range from €2,550 to €10,065 for day pupils. The State pays the salary of one teacher for every 21 pupils in these schools compared with one teacher for every 19 pupils in schools in the free education scheme. A ratio of 18.25 pupils to one teacher applies in DEIS schools. While the ratio will rise to 23:1 in fee-charging schools from September 2013, these schools have the resources, through fees charged, to employ teachers privately, an option which is not available to schools in the free-education scheme. A report on the analysis of the tuition income of fee-charging schools carried out by the Department was recently published. It showed that the schools in question have €81 million in discretionary income that schools in the free scheme do not have. It is important to note that the report does not contain any policy proposals at this stage. Even after the budget changes are implemented, the discretionary income available to these schools will still be quite considerable.

There are some concerns within the Church of Ireland community on the recent budget measure affecting fee-charging schools. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that students from a Protestant or reformed church background can attend schools that reflect their denominational ethos while at the same time ensuring that funding arrangements accord with the provisions of the Constitution. How best to sustain education provision for widely dispersed and small local communities presents a particular challenge, especially in any locality where enrolment is declining to single figures. The Government is intent on fostering pluralism in school provision. Supporting small communities, including minorities, to maintain their schools is part of that policy. The school to which the Deputy refers has been in contact with the Department. A range of issues have been discussed and further meetings will be held.

An arrangement exists for fee-charging Protestant schools, whereby funding is provided by the Department to the Secondary Education Committee, or SEC, an organisation run by the churches involved in managing Protestant secondary schools. The SEC disburses the funds to the Protestant fee-charging schools on behalf of pupils who would otherwise have difficulty with the cost of fees and who, in the absence of such financial support, would be unable to attend a second-level school of a reformed church or Protestant ethos. This funding amounts to €6.5 million annually to ensure that necessitous Protestant children can attend a school of their choice.

In conclusion, I confirm that the Minister and relevant Department officials will continue to engage with the relevant education-sector stakeholders, including the Church of Ireland and boards of education, in relation to education provision for all areas.

Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. This is the only Protestant secondary school in County Monaghan and it will be very simple for parents to send their kids two or three miles across the Border to schools in Aughnacloy, Newtownhamilton or Armagh. It would be a travesty if this school were lost by reason of the Government's educational policy. The numbers are small at 247 pupils and the fees of €700 per year are very modest. It is not in the same league as the wealthy Dublin schools. Ordinary working people send their children to this school as it is the only one based on their faith in the county. I cannot stress enough that this community must not be made to feel excluded and marginalised. Monaghan Collegiate has survived for over 400 years and is a testament to the strength and determination the local Protestant community has brought to the protection of their school.

It is not acceptable to anyone who has true republican values that the school should be lost as a republic cherishes and recognises all of its citizens equally. Any republic which would choose to deny a marginal or minority community the basic right to an education in an institution sympathetic to its ethos while funding education programmes for its Catholic counterpart or people of no faith cannot call itself a true republic. We must be very conscious of what we are doing with this policy. We must ensure that we do everything possible to ensure that the school has a future. If the school went into the free scheme, it would be down to 14 teachers, lose vital subjects and parents would choose to send their kids across the Border to schools in Armagh and Tyrone. We are talking about only a stone's throw. It is six miles from Monaghan town to the Border. Many children live along the Border and it is as easy for them to get on the bus to go to Newtownhamilton or Armagh as to go into Monaghan town. It would be a travesty in this day and age if parents in the Republic had to choose to send their children to Northern Ireland to get an education.

The Government must look at this issue seriously and get a solution that is acceptable to the parents. They are very, very angry. They feel discriminated against by this policy and the issue is not going to go away. It must be sorted out and I urge the Minister to do so as quickly as possible.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I assure Deputy Conlan that the school to which he refers has been in contact with the Department. I have no doubt that its board of management will work actively with the Department. A range of issues has been discussed and further meetings will be held. An arrangement exists for fee-charging Protestant schools, whereby funding is provided by the Department to the Secondary Education Committee. The Constitution does not allow positive or negative discrimination in respect of schools based on their religious ethos. I entirely agree with Deputy Conlon that the Minister for Education and Skills will do everything he can to facilitate this within the Constitution. It is important to emphasise that point. Parents may be annoyed and it is important that they now engage with the board of management and enter meaningful negotiations with the Minister. I have no doubt that he will come to a decision whereby the school's ethos will prevail and the 247 children will continue to attend. I ask the Deputy to engage and convey that to the principal and board of management of the school.