Joe O'Toole (Independent)

A half debate took place recently on the ownership of Catholic schools. Many people are of the view that he who is not with us must be against us and believe that those who support State ownership of schools are in some way anti-Catholic, but that is not the case. We need a full debate on this matter so that people's views are put on the record. A classic example in support of such a debate arose on yesterday's Order of Business, when my colleague, Senator Mullen, brought to the attention of the House a Red C poll, conducted about a year ago, which indicated that 47% of parents were in favour of Catholic schools whereas 37% preferred mixed religion education and 11% said that religion should have no part in education. However, the difficulty with this kind of half information is that it is undermining, as is shown by the finding in the same poll that 72% of parents, in other words the majority, would prefer primary schools to be run by the State with equal status and opportunity given to all religions.

I raise this matter because my colleague, Senator Norris, has on two occasions in the past three weeks sought a debate on the question of equal status. The Leader raised the issue with the Minister for Education and Science but he cannot get the Government to support it. The people of Ireland are calling for equal opportunity and status for all religions, and that is very important. The recent Dáil na nÓg, which brings young people together to learn about democracy, came to the conclusion that while the doctrines and beliefs of various religions should be fully respected and tolerated, they should not be a barrier to appropriate sex education for young people. These issues can be debated in this House.