Results 4,561-4,580 of 9,894 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: Okay. Could it be used by a school to say that certain children's needs are a bit too complex for the school?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: Definitely not?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I have concerns about this. I wonder if category of need is defined. It struck us when we read it. We have had representations asking us to table amendments similar to this. We took a look at them and thought that we could not propose them. They looked to us like something one would not want to propose. On that basis, this amendment does not look something I want to support either....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: We know this happens all the time in any event but I would not like to put it into legislation.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: The big problem here is the soft barriers. Some of the soft barriers are erected in schools by the professions who are advising the Minister, but not by all of them. A huge number of them do outstanding work. The soft barriers are not imposed by me. I certainly do not want to impose them by legislation and they are not directly imposed by the Minister either. If we are allowing...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: The problem is with respect to the ASD. That is the issue.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 14:In page 6, to delete lines 13 to 21 and substitute the following:"(b) a school to which section 7(3)(c) of the Act of 2000 applies, whose objective is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values, the admission statement of the school shall include a statement that the school does not discriminate in relation to the admission of...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: How does that marry with section 61(2)(b), which allows a school to reject someone on the basis of religion if it proves the refusal is necessary to maintain the ethos of the school? Is that simply a case of oversubscription? I am not reading it like that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: The Deputy is right. This is why I want the Minister to clarify it. If a school is not oversubscribed we do not need a rule. We need a rule that there is no discrimination and we do not need any exception.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: If a school is not oversubscribed I certainly would not favour any exceptions. In my view, if a school is undersubscribed this is not necessary. I do not think anybody has asked for it. If a school is undersubscribed and there are spare places and spare capacity in the school what the Minister is outlining is that the school can refuse people if it is essential to maintain the ethos of the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: It seems to me the reason for having the exception from the Equal Status Act, and I would support it in certain circumstances, is to ensure coreligionists can attend the school of their choice, so Catholics can go to a Catholic school in so far as they can and members of the Church of Ireland can go to a Church of Ireland school and their places are not taken up by somebody not of their...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: It was-----

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: That is why I withdrew it.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: Is now a good opportunity to take a break?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I would like to break.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: Do these amendments relate to Irish?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 20:In page 6, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:“(c) a school which teaches through the medium of Irish, and which gives priority in its admission policy to students who speak Irish as a home language, the admission statement of the school shall include a statement that the school does not discriminate in relation to the admission of students where...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I just think that we should speak Irish when we are talking about the language. Ba mhaith linn sna leasaithe seo athraithe a dhéanamh ar an bpolasaí maidir le daltaí agus teaghlaigh a bhfuil Gaeilge acu sa bhaile agus an ceart a thabhairt do scoileanna tús áite a thabhairt do na daoine sin, más mian leo. Faoi láthair, tá cuid de na Gaelscoileanna ag...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: Tá mé sásta fanacht go dtí an chéad Stáitse eile. Feicfimid ansin cad atá le cur ar fáil ag an Aire. Tá an t-Aire ceart nuair a deireann sé gur féidir le scoileanna tús áite a thabhairt do na páistí seo. Ní féidir leo a leithéid a dhéanamh ach trí agallamh, áfach. They can only do that...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I withdraw it.