Shane Ross (Independent)

I thank Senator Buttimer for giving me some of his time to address this subject. It is a sensitive but important subject because it says a lot about the attitude of the State towards its minorities. I have had several representations from Protestant schools and schools with a Protestant ethos which are dumbstruck that the Minister would go to such trouble to retrieve €2.8 million, despite the difficulty it will cause to so many families.

The grant, as Senator Buttimer said, was a demonstration of the liberal tolerance of former Deputy Donogh O'Malley when he gave out, initially, two sets of grants to Protestant schools 40 years ago. The special services support grant, which the Minister has cut, amounts to only €2.8 million but its withdrawal will have a dramatic effect on certain Protestant schools. The effects are likely to be that, at the very least, one teacher will be lost in each of these schools in order to save money and, second, that fees will increase. The result of an increase in fees in schools such as these will be that certain parents of Protestant backgrounds will not be able to send their children to the schools of their choice. I am in favour of parents being able to educate their children together if that is what they want, or sending their children to Protestant schools, Roman Catholic schools or whatever they like. However, the withdrawal of this grant says the State no longer fosters that liberal ethos. It says that people should no longer be allowed to make that choice but that the State will in effect, by limiting the finances available, dictate to parents where their children go to school, and that the choice of ethos, whether it is Roman Catholic, Protestant, or any other, will be made by the State rather than by the parents.

It is important not just in terms of the €2.8 million — which is important to certain parents as it will force their hands if it is withdrawn — and not just in terms of education, but in terms of the ethos of people who want to pursue a particular minority way of life. This is not a denominational matter. It is a matter of the State's taking a liberal attitude and the Minister deciding that the €2.8 million remains the way it was. I heard the excuses being given in the debate in the Dáil, and the weakest of all was that the Attorney General had given some sort of advice that this is discriminatory. How in the name of God was this only mentioned at the time of the budget? If it is discriminatory now in favour of a minority religion, it has been discriminatory for 40 years.