Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House and I compliment the Independent nominees group on this very useful motion. I listened to the debate on the monitor and it has been very strong. It has been very encouraging to hear the words of the Minister. It is useful for us to consider the social, personal and health education programme and I know Senator Moran and others went into great detail on it. I have always been a strong supporter of it but the concerns raised in the motion are important. The quality and inconsistency of implementation of the programme are a concern. I know the Department is addressing these concerns and that studies to which others have referred show implementation is patchy in quality and in need of improvement, particularly in the relationships and sexuality education component. The studies also show great satisfaction among parents with the rollout generally of the RSE component of the programme and there is great commitment to it.

I thought I might follow the Minister's example, and that of other speakers, and stray little from the subject of the SPHE programme and speak a little more generally on the education topic. I compliment the Minister on the fact he has hit the ground running. Some of the wide-ranging issues he covered in his speech show this and they include admissions policy in schools, the national forum on patronage and initiatives at third level. Coming from the third level sector, I know colleagues understand the need for cutbacks but we have great hopes we will see enough investment at third level to ensure we maintain a cutting edge in research and innovation because this is key to our economic development and recovery. Trinity College Dublin, where I have the privilege of working, consistently ranks highly in the international league tables, recently in the world rankings in the arts sector and we are very proud of this. We need to maintain these rankings. I know the Minister is very much aware of this.

I also want to speak generally on primary and secondary education as this is the focus of the debate. I speak as the parent of a child at primary level and, as the Minister is well aware, as the chair of a local Educate Together school start-up group covering the area of the Dublin South-East and Dublin South-Central constituencies, namely, the Portobello multi-denominational group. More than 400 parents are now members of this group and it is still growing. It was established last year in response to immense local demand. The group is very excited by the prospect of the national forum on patronage and we have made a submission to it. The group is living evidence of the increased demand for new forms of multi-denominational schooling and a mismatch between the current provision at primary and secondary levels and the wants and needs of parents.

Other speakers have pointed out - and I am aware the national forum is considering this matter - the disconnection between the provisions of the Constitution which provide for parental choice in the manner of education of their children and the reality for many parents which is that in practice they are forced to send their children to schools where the ethos is one which they do not share. This is because we live in a country where 96% of education provision at primary level is denominational, largely under the patronage of the Catholic Church. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has recognised this position is no longer tenable. Out of 3,200 national schools throughout Ireland, less than 60 are multi-denominational schools under the patronage of Educate Together. As the parent of a child attending a multi-denominational school I am very conscious that the Educate Together model is about more than multi-denominational education; it is also a model of education that is child-centred and that encourages and requires parental involvement at a greater level than other schools.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the House to take over from the Minister in an eminently capable capacity. Her brief covers equality and what I am speaking about goes a little beyond the motion on SPHE but covers the need to see greater recognition of diversity in the provision of education in this country, not only at primary level where the focus is at present, but also at second level. I was going to give the Minister, Deputy Quinn, a final compliment on his recent announcement that he will recognise Educate Together as a patron at secondary level. This is very important for the many parents who now wish to see their children, who have been educated through a multi-denominational primary system, receive at second level an education that is child focused and multi-denominational. This choice does not exist at present.

The debate on SPHE and the need for consistency in the rollout of the RSE component is about supporting diversity among pupils. We also need to examine how we support the diverse ethos among various parents in an increasingly pluralist republic. The Minister and the Government have a real commitment to ensuring greater support for diversity in the education system generally and I look forward to this support being evidenced in the actions of the Government over the coming term.