Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing me the opportunity to speak on this. I welcome the Minister of State and I am very pleased that he is handling this issue. He has grabbed a hold of his portfolio and has shown his interest in the topic. I also wish to start by applauding the process under discussion. It is right that when we sign up to an international convention, we should be held accountable before the international community for how well we perform in bringing that convention into effect. It is good that we should have to go before the UN committee every few years and account for what we have done. I am not sure if we have done this too often in the past.

As the UN report makes clear, we have made some progress in a number of areas but there are many remaining where our performance has been below par. The purpose of a debate such as this is to bring such matters into the public domain, not only to create awareness but also a groundswell of support for future action. I wish to focus my contribution on one of the areas in which the UN finds us lacking. This is the matter of denominational education, which is raised on page 14, paragraphs 60 and 61. The committee reiterates its concern that non-denominational or multi-denominational schools represent less than 1% of the number of primary education facilities in Ireland. The committee encourages us:

[T]o take fully into consideration the recommendations made by the Committee on Racial Discrimination which encourages the establishment of non-denominational or multi-denominational schools and to amend the existing legislative framework to eliminate discrimination in school admissions.

This is not the first time the committee has drawn attention to this issue, but we have done nothing about it. Two UN committees have found us wanting in this area, but so far we have not responded meaningfully to their prodding.

History has left us with a structure for our educational system that is quite inappropriate for the age in which we live. When the British created our national school system in the 1830s, Ireland was sharply divided into two religious communities and it made some sort of sense to mirror that division in the way education was organised. The result was that the management of schools was effectively handed over to the two main churches, each of which provided denominational education for its own flock. They did a marvellous job and we have been fortunate in Ireland with the education provided to us by nuns, priests and the Christian Brothers.

I was in South America recently and I discovered that a couple of generations ago, legislators in both Uruguay and Argentina went looking for an education system that would suit their people. They found what they were looking for in Ireland and they encouraged the Christian Brothers to set up an education system in their countries.

The denominational system may have been the right solution for the 19th century, but I doubt if it is the right way to structure our education almost 200 years later. Over the past 40 years, we have seen significant growth in the number of parents who prefer their children to be educated in a non-denominational or multi-denominational environment. The recent wave of immigration has brought to our schools many children who belong to neither of the two denominations that until recently dominated our culture.

Let me make it quite clear that I am not against people sending their children to denominational schools, which are for the most part excellent. I do not for a moment suggest that the State should not support denominational schools to the generous extent that it does today. I object to a structure for our education that does not offer to everyone as a right the choice of a non-denominational or multi-denominational approach. We do not offer such a choice to everyone, still less do we offer it as a right. In today's world, it is wrong for us not to do so. I agree with the two UN committees in this regard and I say this as a committed member of one of the two main churches. I am a supporter of denominational education if one wants it, but I know that there are a considerable number of people who do not want such an education nowadays. I am not sure if we have taken the correct steps to enable that to happen.

My belief about this is strengthened when we consider the matter in an all-Ireland context. Nobody would deny that the basic problem underlying the situation in Northern Ireland is the mutual antagonism of the two communities. Many would argue that no lasting reconciliation between the communities can take place until they abandon the virtual apartheid that keeps them apart and start treating each other as the neighbours that they are. I know the North very well and I know that the education system causes divisions. If one meets somebody and wants to know what side that person is on, he or she just has to talk about his or her school. A main pillar of the apartheid that continues to divide Northern Ireland is the sectarian nature of the education system. Like our own system in the Republic, it is strictly segregated on religious lines. Despite the great success of the few multi-denominational schools that exist, very little progress has been made in loosening the sectarian stranglehold on education that many would argue is one of the fundamental causes of the divisions.

In both North and South, the churches have united in their wish to continue the denominational system. It is high time that we questioned that outright opposition in the light of the circumstances we live in today. In this part of the country, given the calmer circumstances that prevail, we are in an excellent position to lead the way in this very sensitive area. I hope this issue will not get overlooked among the many other matters the UN committee has raised in its uncompromising report. For the sake of future peace on this island, it is one of the most important and urgent issues to emerge.

I am pleased that the Minister of State has brought this matter before the House. It is worth debating and I would like the focus to be placed on that particular topic.