Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 472: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the mechanism and the determination of the way in which patronage of schools is determined by her Department; if, once patronage is selected, it is up to her Department to change it or if this can be done by a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12871/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Section 8 of the Education Act 1998 provides that the person who was recognised as a patron, trustee, member of the board of governors, or the owners of a school in the absence of governors-trustees, at the time of commencement of the Act was automatically entitled to be a patron for the purposes of the Education Act. In any other case, the patron is the person requesting recognition of a school, or his or her nominee.

The basis for recognising new schools derives from the provisions of section 10 of the Education Act 1998 which allows a prospective patron to seek approval for a school that reflects the characteristic spirit of the sponsor.

Generally, the patronage of a school does not change unless a patron body wishes to withdraw from provision or unless two or more schools having a different patron wish to amalgamate. The latter generally results in an agreed patronage arrangement among the schools concerned.