Rónán Mullen (Independent)

He may not have said "gun" but that is the word I prefer to use in this House. There has been more than a whiff of that strategy in the air as certain politicians tried to up the ante in the debate about school patronage and the governance of primary schools. I am concerned by the language from experienced elected representatives and from other quarters. The shortage of school places in Balbriggan meant that an emergency school had to be opened to cater for some 100 non-Irish, non-Catholic, mostly African children. The difficulty here was the shortage of school places. This was a planning issue arising from the concentration of people in that area, for which there were specific reasons in terms of housing that was accessible to the State, and the failure to plan ahead for schooling needs. The central issue, therefore, was planning, but it has turned into a case of attacking the enrolment policies of denominational schools. This is intolerant, unprofessional and unacceptable. I have been concerned about unhelpful comments regarding baptismal certificates, for example, being used as pass books. This is basically attempting to run one agenda on the back of another. It is true the issue is integration but it is clear that denominational schools have an excellent record in the integration of what have been called the new Irish.

I disagree respectfully with Senators O'Toole and Norris in their constant emphasis on this issue of ethos and the protections available for denominational schools under the law. It is ironic that there is disagreement with the Department of Education and Science about the refusal to allow Protestant schools to interview. I agree with the criticism because it is a necessary part of respecting denominational school and I would worry that the Department is putting person management ahead of the right of schools to determine whether particular people are suitable for a teaching post.

If we are to criticise, we should acknowledge at least that it is out of respect for parental choice for a certain type of schooling that denominational educators are entitled to protect their ethos. I encourage the Minister not to cede to the voices which carp against the right of schools to so protect their ethos. The parents who send their children to those schools consciously are taxpayers as well.

Although it is desirable for the Department to respect individual and different types of providers of education, and facilitate them rather than control them too much, it is nonetheless very important we continue to promote an attitude among parents and throughout the community. It is important to promote attitudes of inclusiveness. We hear anecdotal reports of people travelling distances each morning to take their children to schools where there are fewer immigrant children. That is something to be deplored. Respecting parental choice does not mean we should not encourage people to take an inclusive approach to integration in education. The caveat is that if parents feel the quality of education will be lower because many of the students in the schools do not have English, such students will not be brought along. That is the best argument for continued increased investment in English language learning skills for our new Irish within our mainstream schooling system.