Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I acknowledge that it appears a thoughtful process is being planned around patronage. Will the Minister put a similar process in place for small rural schools to help them to examine their viability into the future?

The Minister gave the number of people in the recent census who registered as having no religion but that does not mean they are unhappy with the Catholic ethos in the schools in which they are registering their children. I think he acknowledged that. In areas identified for divestment and when those parents and teachers are consulted - I still do not know how that will happen and perhaps the Minister might explain that - will they have a choice to keep a Catholic ethos if that is their wish?

In regard to faith formation and teacher education, colleges of education have for quite a long time - certainly when I was teaching in one of them - been preparing future teachers to deal with world religions given that they may be teaching in a non-denominational or an Educate Together school. How is the right of staff to teach in a Catholic or Church of Ireland school to be addressed? If teachers do not want to teach in a divested school how will their rights be upheld?