Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am disappointed that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, is not taking this matter because I understand from the rules of the House that if a Minister is not available to Deputies on a particular day, a matter such as this can be deferred. I was not informed that the Minister would be unavailable.

The problems associated with Scoil Náisiúnta Bhrighde in Faughart, County Louth have been ongoing for quite some time. My office has been dealing with representations from many of the families with children who have been impacted on by the saga that has been ongoing in the school since May 2017. Neither the Minister, the Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, nor the patron of the school up until the time it closed its doors in mid-September 2017 could find a solution to what had been an ongoing problem within the school related to leadership and management and the consequent fallout of a drop in enrolments due to falling standards at the school. Dozens of families in the community were left with no option but to withdraw their children from the school, because of the failure or inability of the Department to deal with the issues at the time. The school has remained closed ever since. It operated with three teachers, a secretary and a caretaker. Before it closed there were 23 boys and 32 girls attending, down from a high of over 100 pupils in its heyday.

The church closed the school to find a solution to the problems, but at the time it was said clearly both to me and others that it would allow it to be divested to another patron once the problems were solved in the poor management of the school. Archbishop Martin has been contacted by me without response, but he did respond to others, including representatives of the parents' group. In a recent reply he stated he had no objection in principle to the possibility of the Department, following due process, making a decision on the opening of a new school under different patronage on the former Scoil Bhrighde site. However, in his letter he stated he had had asked the Department for documentation on the process but that he had not received the documentation he had requested. He also said that he was not aware that there had been a demand for a change of patronage or diversity in patronage provision while the school was open. He also believed it was reasonable for any decision on a change of patronage to be made following a plebiscite or other form of wider consultation within the local community.

The archbishop cannot but be aware of the requests for a change of patronage since the school closed. He has also stated that, as a trustee of the trust which owns the property and as Archbishop of Armagh, he has a responsibility to the parish of Faughart to ensure the religious education of the children of the parish, including their sacramental preparation, is safeguarded. I have received confirmation from the Louth Meath Education and Training Board that preparation for the sacraments would be carried out in conjunction with the local parish. Archbishop Martin has asked for clarification from the Department on whether such a change of patronage would essentially involve the opening of a new school rather than a transfer of patronage to an existing school. He has said he expects the same criteria of assessment to apply as normally apply in the case of a proposed new school. I completely understand the concerns of the archbishop in that regard and also in regard to religious education, but surely a mechanism can be found to satisfy his concerns to enable the school to reopen to the satisfaction of the parents and community as speedily as possible.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, to set out for the DáiI the position on voluntary reassignment of patronage under section 8 of the Education Act 1998. As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister has announced new plans aimed at accelerating the provision of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country in line with the choices of parents, families and school communities and the commitment in the programme for Government to reach a figure of 400 such schools by 2030. The previous model of patronage divestment yielded only a very limited number of schools for transfer to multi-denominational patrons. The number was ten since 2013. The new schools reconfiguration for diversity process has the potential to significantly increase patron diversity in the school system.

The early movers provision of the schools reconfiguration for diversity process involves voluntary reassignments of patronage under section 8 of the Education Act 1998. This fast-track process is part of the plan to accelerate the delivery of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools. The new process which supports transfers of schools to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of local families is based on the principles of transparency and co-operation. It involves consultation with the school community, the Iocal community and the current patron and reflects their wishes in a request to transfer patronage under section 8 of the Education Act.

In the case of the school to which the Deputy refers, the Department will consider any request that may be made by the existing patron for a transfer of patronage to a multi-denominational patron under the early movers provision. The first reconfiguration under the early movers provision of the new process has taken place successfully, with Two Mile community national school opening in September 2017.

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In cases such as Faughart, individual early movers are being facilitated with immediate transfers to multidenominational or non-denominational patrons where the community and the current patron have opted voluntarily to do so. If there is agreement on the transfer of patronage, the procedure is that the archdiocese will write to the Department with a request under section 8(3) of the Education Act 1998 for the Minister to amend the patron register in respect of the school on the application of the existing patron, as the person who stands for the time being registered as the patron of the school.

I understand there has been some interaction locally with multidenominational patrons, including a meeting between representatives of the former Scoil Náisúnta Bhrighde parents' association and Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, LMETB, in this regard. The Department has been contacted by some of these parties but indicated that this was a matter for the patron rather than the Department at this point. The Department has also responded to correspondence from the existing patron seeking clarification on the early movers provision of the schools reconfiguration for diversity process. The Department has indicated it would view any request to transfer patronage in this case positively.

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the transfer of patronage can be fast-tracked in this case. The Louth and Meath Education and Training Board is capable and perhaps one of the best in the country at education and school management. It has said the school could be opened for September 2018. In a previous life I was the principal teacher in a rural school. The Minister of State knows that the rural school is the hub of most communities and it is sad and disappointing, notwithstanding the valiant effort of the parents and families and the community of Faughart, that the school remains closed. My concern is that there is obfuscation and fudge. The patron has written to the Department with questions he wants answered. The Minister of State mentioned an early movers provision but if that is not made within a certain period, people will find other places, as they would in any rural community, and they have done so in Faughart. The patron has written letters setting out what the effects would be on the other schools. It would only reverse the difficulty the school had before it closed.

The Minister has sent out a first round of surveys under the consultation plan for the divestment of schools and he is also seeking to outlaw the baptism barrier for entry to Catholic schools. However, as matters stand, the Catholic bishops have the final say on which schools they transfer and what type of school will emerge. It is my clear understanding, having taken advice, that the Education Act 1998 makes provision for the existing patron to transfer patronage to another patron. I have been advised that Archbishop Martin has withdrawn as patron of Faughart. That is an important point.

It is the parents' wish to reopen the school in September under the patronage of the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board. The LMETB has confirmed to me that it is willing to open the school this September under its patronage and 30 families have already filled in an expression of interest form to send their children, both returning and new, to Faughart school under that patronage. I implore the Minister to meet Archbishop Martin to obtain from him the letter of request needed to enable the transfer of patronage to take place. Any further delay will weaken the spirit of community in the area. As a former teacher, the Minister of State knows the importance of rural schools as hubs in the community. Allowing this to go beyond September would run the risk of the school never reopening and we would have another Drimoleague.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Department has been contacted by some of the parties but has indicated this is a matter for the patron. I take the Deputy's point that he is asking the Minister to meet Archbishop Martin and obtain from him the request necessary for a transfer of patronage to take place. The Department has indicated it would review positively any request to transfer patronage in this case.