Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 498: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the statutory and-or non-statutory provisions that are in place to protect different religious and-or non-religious denominations constitutional rights of a child to attend any school in receipt of public funding without attending religious instruction and by inference, religious prayers at such a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25341/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 30 of the Education Act (1998), no student can be required to attend instruction in any subject which is contrary to the conscience of the parent of the student.

The position regarding Religious Instruction in Primary Schools is also contained in rules 68 and 69 of the Rules for National schools. These rules state, inter alia, that: No pupil shall receive, or be present at, any religious instruction of which his parents or guardians disapprove. The periods of formal religious instruction shall be fixed so as to facilitate the withdrawal of pupils where above applies Where such religious instruction as their parents or guardians approve is not provided in the school for any section of the pupils, such pupils must, should their parents or guardians so desire, be allowed to absent themselves from school, at reasonable times, for the purpose of receiving that instruction elsewhere.