Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if, in order to ensure the delivery of the most appropriate teaching skills in the teaching of English as a second language, she will ensure the religious ethos exemption will not be used in such a way as to impede the recruitment, establishment or promotion of those with exceptional skills who have come into the area of teaching, and whose contribution is both necessary and invaluable; if she has satisfied herself that to invoke the religious exemption in order to adversely affect the employment prospects of an applicant to a teaching position would breach the spirit and letter of Irish, European and international equality legislation. [11926/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am anxious for schools to appoint the most suitable people to language support posts and am determined to ensure that language support teachers have access to the right assessment tools to help them to establish the abilities and needs of individual students.

In order to ensure that schools can accurately and objectively assess the language requirement of children, my Department will be sending to primary schools assessment materials which have been developed by Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT). The assessment materials will enable schools to ensure that the specific language requirements of children needing support are met in a targeted way. The IILT materials will also enable accurate initial and on-going assessment of the language proficiency of the child and his or her need for continued language support.

In relation to the question of ethos raised by the Deputy, the position is that section 15 of the Education Act states that it is the duty of the Board of Management "to manage the school(s) on behalf of the patron" and "uphold, and be accountable to the patron for so upholding, the characteristic spirit of the school(s) as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school...".