Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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7. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is committed to the repeal of section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000, in order that a child or family cannot be discriminated against when accessing State-funded schools on the basis of their religious beliefs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10714/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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While changes to the Equal Status Act are a matter for the Minister for Justice and Equality, the question raised by the Deputy is related to school admission policies. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to publish a new school admissions and excellence legislation, taking account of current draft proposals.

The published draft legislation for school admissions did not envisage any change to the Equal Status Act. This is a complex area to legislate for and I note that the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection, when considering the issue, acknowledged the potential tension between Article 42 of the Constitution on education and Article 44 on religion. Progressing the new admissions legislation will provide the Oireachtas with an opportunity to tease out these issues. I look forward to working with Members on the basis of partnership.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his response. This is an issue that probably proves the law of unintended consequences. When the Equal Status Act was initially being proposed, it was seen at the time that this section would protect minority faith schools and ensure that they would be able to continue and not lose their ethos. There has been a reverse effect in that the majority of faith schools are using it as a way of restricting access to the schools. The Minister referred to legislation on school admissions policy. Surely that can address this issue. Specifically, when does the Minister propose to bring forward that legislation so that it can be discussed? What contact does the Minister's Department have with the Department of Justice and Equality with regard to this section of the Equal Status Act, the impact it has had and the potential unconstitutionality of it?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I hope to bring forward this legislation at an early date. Considerable work has been done on it within the Department. The Constitution provides that the State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator is the family and it provides for the rights of parents. It then goes on to say under Article 44 that the State shall not impose any disabilities or discrimination on the grounds of religious profession. Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations. They have the right to manage their own affairs etc.

There are rights to be balanced in introducing legislation in this area. I look forward to discussing with the committee of the Dáil how best we should do this. There is no doubt that we need to improve admission policies, given that there are some practices that I believe parents find particularly difficult. We need to bring more clarity to the way admissions policy is implemented, which would be the purpose of the legislation. It would, for example, outlaw having long waiting lists, which would clearly discriminate against someone who had only recently moved into an area. There are many issues we need to deal with. I look forward to meeting the committee to discuss them.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I am sure the Minister is aware of the survey carried out by EQUATE which showed that 77% of respondents did not think a school should have the right to refuse admission to a child based on his or her religious denomination, while 87% thought the State had a responsibility to ensure children did not experience religious discrimination in the school curriculum. The Minister might expand on how the legislation he is introducing on school admission policies might resolve these conflicts in the context of rights. It is okay to cover long waiting lists in terms of their not being allowed as a basis for discrimination, but this is a fundamental policy whereby children are potentially discriminated against based on their religious denomination. I would be interested to hear the Minister expand on how these issues can be resolved in the legislation without looking at the Equal Status Act.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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General legislation will provide that schools cannot refuse admission to a child on grounds of religious belief. However, if a school is oversubscribed and there are too many children, the current legislation allows it to choose a child of its denomination over a child who is not of that denomination. A school cannot turn away someone because he or she is Muslim or has special needs and so on. This will be enshrined in legislation. The issue arises where a school is oversubscribed and concerns whether a school of a particular denomination can have, as a criterion for choice, the issue of religious faith. Clearly, that is the issue we will have to discuss at the committee in terms of how it can be done, bearing in mind the right of churches to run schools which is recognised in the Constitution and to protect the ethos of their schools. We need to tease out this issue and I will be happy to do so with the committee. I am sure the Deputy will engage with it.