Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Minister of State. I know that he, like me, recognises the tremendous contribution the Educate Together movement has made to the education system in this country. As a school patron, Educate Together operates a national network of 118 schools in Ireland, with 97 primary and 21 second-level schools catering to over 40,000 students. Educate Together schools provide a unique, inclusive and equality-based school ethos, as set out in its charter. The charter describes schools that guarantee equality of access and esteem to children, irrespective of their social, cultural or religious background, are learner-centred in their approach to education and are run as participatory democracies with respectful partnership between parents, pupils and staff. Also enshrined in the charter is an obligation to put students at the centre of everything the schools do. All children have equal access to school, and no one religion or world view is given priority over another in Educate Together schools.

I was shocked to discover that when allocating places for school transport, neither the Department nor Bus Éireann recognised the distinctive ethos of Educate Together. Last month, parents in Castleconnell received a letter from Bus Éireann which sets out the basic approach in terms of eligibility for school transport. It states that under the terms of the Department of Education post-primary school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department and Bus Éireann having regard to ethos and language. So far, so good. However, the letter goes on to exclude the secondary school student in question, stating incorrectly that the Educate Together school in Limerick is not his nearest, having regard to ethos and language, and declaring that Newport College post-primary school is nearer.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Newport school is not an Educate Together school. It is not even in the same county. This is clear evidence that neither the Department nor Bus Éireann recognise that Educate Together has a distinct ethos when it comes to school transport. Last month, my comrade Deputy Quinlivan received a response to a parliamentary question from the Department which stated, "With regard to ethos, the Department of Education classifies schools as being one of the following - of religious denomination, interdenominational or multi-denominational." The response goes on to state, "The scheme has regard to ethos and language in that exceptions to eligibility for the scheme are considered in the case of minority religions and the Irish language." In 2024 this definition of exceptions is outdated, extraordinarily narrow and, frankly, embarrassing. It is a 19th century policy for a 21st century society. For the record, the parents of the child in this case drove their son to the other side of town for two years in order to bring him to an ET primary school because they very much are invested in the Educate Together ethos.The result in this particular case is that approximately 20 children, who had access to a bus when the Educate Together school was housed in temporary premises, have since been denied school transport since the permanent school building was opened last September. We have the grossly unfair situation of two children living next door to each other and one of them having access to a bus to Castletroy College while the other who attends Educate Together, also in Castletroy, has no school bus. The attitudes of the Department and Bus Éireann in respect of school ethos can best be summed up as Catholic, Church of Ireland and then the rest of you. It is not good enough and I ask the Minister of State to intervene and give the distinctive ethos of Educate Together the recognition it deserves. Just because it does not involve religion does not mean it does not deserve recognition. I have not even dealt with the environmental details or that it makes no sense to force parents to bring their children to school in their cars, rather than provide a school bus. Hopefully the Minister of State will get the gist of what I mean. My question is simple. As the Department of Education is in complete denial of the ethos of Educate Together when it comes to school transport, what is the Minister of State going to do about it?