Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A thousand thoughts come to mind. On the amendment, teaching in a religious ethos school is not just about the teaching of religion. It should run through every subject taught and throughout the entire day. Technically, a teacher in a Catholic school is supposed to teach history, geography, mathematics etc. through the Catholic ethos. This is not only about the teaching of religion.

In regard to the programme for Government, our determination was to establish a form of patronage and pluralism. The determination then was to examine the entire infrastructure of the school system in Ireland and the reality of there being 4,000 school buildings in a country with a population equal to that of Manchester. It is unsustainable to have that number of school buildings and so on in a country which, as I say, has a relatively small population in comparison with other countries in the European Union. However, some people did not play ball. They wanted to keep things as they are. In this regard, in terms of influence over children and education, this is the last hurrah for people of a certain mindset.

On amendment No. 2 to amendment No. 13, in my mind what it seeks goes too far. We have to accept that under the Constitution religious groups are free to establish their own institutions and can determine that religion or belief of employees is a genuine occupational requirement, even if the teaching of religion is not a direct feature of the particular post. I am unable to accept this particular amendment. This is an issue, and one not only relevant to religious institutions.What about a lobbying group that believes in human rights which has a reasonable expectation that someone working for it shares its belief system? What about someone working for a gay rights group, a women's rights group or a political party? Is it a reasonable expectation that an individual working in such an institution should share its mindset? It is not easy to nail down, which I totally accept. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one's point of view, we have to accept that the Constitution is quite clear on this point.