Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the House on the report of the advisory group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. Having a school system that can cater adequately for demand for pluralism and diversity is a priority for the Government. That is why I established the independent forum within my first few days in office. I would like to start by thanking the members of the advisory group - Professor John Coolahan and his colleagues Dr. Caroline Hussey and Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather - for their dedication and hard work during the past year.

Our nation has changed and is changing, with both a greater diversity of religious beliefs and a multicultural population. We now have a much more diverse population than we had even two decades ago. There is a sizeable minority of the population who declare themselves as having no religion. For example, national census results show that in 2002, just over 130,000 people registered no religion. By 2006, this had risen to more than 186,000, an increase of nearly 35%, in contrast to a population increase of just over 8%. The 2011 census now shows a further increase of 45%, to 270,000, in the number of people who declare they have no religion, with a population increase of another 8.2%. In addition, the proportion of civil marriage ceremonies has increased from less than 6% of all marriages in 1996 to nearly a quarter of all marriages in 2008. There are also parents of denominational beliefs who prefer a multidenominational education for their children.

The forum advisory group reports that 96% of education provision at primary level is denominational, arising from the historical development of Irish primary education. The significant societal changes that have taken place in Ireland in recent years have led to increased demand for new forms of multidenominational and non-denominational schooling. They have also led to increased demand for Irish language schooling in many parts of the country. Gaelscoileanna are now a much more common feature of the educational landscape than they were 20 years ago. Senators will no doubt be aware that various United Nations and European Union bodies have noted the lack of school choice available to parents, particularly in the area of non-denominational education. These UN and EU bodies are charged with the implementation of international human rights and related instruments to which Ireland is a party. Closer to home, there is general acceptance that a greater diversity of primary schooling is necessary, and I welcome the readiness among partners in the education world to embrace this. Many representative organisations and individuals, such as the National Parents Council at primary level, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, the Irish Primary Principals Network, the Humanist Association of Ireland and Educate Together, have called for a re-organisation of school patronage to mirror the changes that are taking place in our society. As I have said previously, the State cannot provide more schools than are necessary just to meet various demands, given the high costs associated with building, maintaining and staffing new schools, where infrastructure is already in place. Therefore, the key issue is how best to promote and develop diversity within our existing primary school system.

The forum provided a formal structure within which to conduct the debate on how we can move towards a system that is responsive to the needs of Ireland in the 21st century. The key issue I asked the forum to address is how change can be implemented. I set three broad questions: how to establish the demand for diversity of patronage in the first place; the practicalities of managing the divesting of patronage as a process; and how diversity can be accommodated where there are just one or two schools serving a community with a static population. Consultation was a key element of the forum. A number of public working sessions were held with key stakeholders in June 2011, and a plenary session at which the advisory group presented its preliminary findings was held in November of last year. A total of 247 written submissions were received, and these were carefully examined by the advisory group. The public working sessions were broadcast live over the Internet, and recordings of the working sessions are available from the website of the Department of Education and Skills along with all the submissions received and other forum documents. The advisory group also held consultation sessions with primary and post-primary pupils to ensure their views were considered as part of the group's deliberations. I would like to thank all the stakeholder groups and other interested parties who made submissions to the advisory group for their interest in and engagement with this process.

I will now turn to the recommendations of the advisory group. These can be broadly divided into three key areas: divesting patronage where there is a stable population and demand for diversity of schools; promoting more inclusiveness in all schools, including stand-alone schools, where divesting patronage to another body is not an option; and dealing with Irish-medium primary schools. The advisory group cautions against a so-called big-bang approach and advises that change of patronage should happen in a phased way through the adoption of a catchment approach, taking account of the preferences of parents. The report recommends that the first phase of this work should consist of an examination of school patronage in 43 towns and four Dublin areas identified by the Department in 2010 - arising, I must point out, from a request by the Catholic Church itself - where there are stable populations and where there is likely to be demand for diversity of provision. This would involve 18 diocese and scrutiny of approximately 250 schools, out of which approximately 50 may be divested, out of a total of 3,200 primary schools in Ireland. A three-stage process is recommended whereby the Department would gather information on the demand for divestment through parental surveys and make a report available for the patrons. In reality, we are talking about one patron, which is the Catholic Church. The patrons would then be required to respond within a definite timeframe, following consultation with school communities, with a range of options for divesting schools in these areas. The options proposed by the patrons will then be evaluated by the Department of Education and Skills and a report prepared for me. This would occur alongside a programme of provision of new schools in areas of population growth, the patronage of which would be based on parental demand.

The report makes a number of recommendations concerning the provision of Irish-medium schools, including an analysis of the way Irish-medium schools develop and the piloting of the concept of satellite schools, which would be linked to well-established parent Irish-language schools. For communities served by one stand-alone school where transfer of patronage is not an option, the report makes recommendations aimed at ensuring such schools are as inclusive as possible and accommodate pupils of various belief systems. There are, in our estimation and that of the advisory group, approximately 1,700 of these schools, mainly in rural areas, which are at least 3 km from their nearest neighbours. That is just over half of the total number of primary schools. The report suggests the development of protocols that would facilitate all schools in developing clear policies, accessible to parents, on how to manage diversity and ensure an inclusive and respectful environment for all their pupils. Items that might be dealt with in such protocols include, for example, having boards of management that reflect the diversity of communities, developing whole-school evaluation and self-evaluation by schools of their practices on diversity and ethos, ensuring equitable enrolment policies and dealing effectively with the constitutional right to opt out of religious education. Other suggestions to assist greater inclusiveness include the following: development by schools of clear policies on religious and cultural celebrations, the display of artefacts of different religions and the conduct of prayers and assemblies; a review of the rules for national schools dating from 1965, particularly rule 68, which refers to the need for a religious spirit to inform and vivify the whole school day; and the development of an ethics, religions and beliefs programme which will ensure that all children learn about world religions and beliefs.

The report also emphasises the importance of continuing to make provision for social inclusion and for children with special educational needs, while catering for diversity.

Where do we go from here? The overarching aim of the forum's work was to ensure that schools cater for diversity and ensure an inclusive and respectful environment for all their pupils, of whom there are 500,000 in the primary sector. There is a general acceptance that a greater diversity of primary schooling is necessary and I welcome the readiness among all partners to embrace this. The key issue now is how best to promote and develop this diversity. I am very conscious that the process of education and the experience pupils have of it during the progress of this work should not be disrupted or damaged in any way while we try to accommodate diversity. I am also conscious of the need to balance making real progress in divesting patronage in the short term and of the longer-term aim of ensuring commitment by all concerned to more inclusiveness and diversity in schools. Given the demands on the resources available at primary level, I am also mindful that such changes should, wherever possible, be cost neutral. The advisory group has presented a comprehensive report and I am aware that some of the issues dealt with in the report are sensitive and need to be carefully examined. I welcome this opportunity to get an input from the Members of the Seanad.

I have asked the education partners and interested parties to examine the report and take time to reflect on and digest the recommendations. I am considering the report's findings and recommendations and intend to outline my official response in the coming weeks. As per the commitment in the programme for Government, a White Paper on pluralism and patronage in the primary sector will follow.

I return to the dominant concern for the Government, namely, having a school system which can cater adequately for demand for pluralism and diversity. The last year has seen enormous progress made towards that goal. I believe the forum and the advisory group report have provided a very effective platform for a useful and constructive public debate around the issues that need to be addressed. I know that today's proceedings in this House will contribute significantly further to that debate and I look forward to listening to the views of Senators.