Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am grateful to Senator Mary White for giving us the sad news about Mrs. Sadie Walsh. I am sure we would all like to express our condolences to Mr. Jimmy Walsh on his sad loss.

I support Senator O'Toole's call, and the calls we have made in recent days, for an urgent debate on the ownership of our so-called national schools. The State cannot afford not to take national schools into ownership - that is the reality. Currently, the State is paying for the salaries of the teachers and the maintenance and physical upkeep of the schools, yet it does not have real control over the governance and governance standards within the schools or the retention and recruitment of teachers. We have enshrined in the equality legislation an exemption for schools and other institutions run by religious orders from certain aspects of the non-discrimination obligations, which is a scandal. Senator Norris has been very active in raising this issue and I have supported him on it. It is vital we have this debate with a view to changing matters.

I have examined the full Red C poll to which Senator O'Toole referred and I found it very interesting. It states not only that 72% of parents would prefer to see schools run by the State with equal status and opportunity for all religions, but the question was specifically asked whether parents want a school managed by and promoting the faith of a particular religion for their children and only 25%, or one in four, said "yes".