Written answers

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Department of Education and Skills

School Accommodation

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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461. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to support the EQUATE Open the School Gates Campaign (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4971/16]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Parents can choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary.

This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

Under the Equal Status Act, schools are not permitted to discriminate in admission on any of the grounds set out in the Act. However the Act contains an exemption which permits schools in which the objective is to provide education that promotes certain religious values, to admit a student of a particular religion in preference to others.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2015 published in April of last year contained a number of important changes to make enrolment policies fairer and more transparent.

The issue of the need to amend the Equal Status Act was not a feature of the consultation paper published in advance of the Admission to Schools Bill. When the Oireachtas committee considered this matter, it simply noted that "there is a potential tension between Articles 42 (Education) and 44 (Religion) of Bunreacht na hÉireann, and this poses a particular difficulty when legislating in this policy area." No amendment to the Equal Status Act has been included in the published Admission to Schools Bill.

I have subsequently made clear my view that this is a matter that does need to be reviewed and addressed, and will need to be a priority for the next Government.

The government has also prioritised a more pluralist system of patronage for our schools. Progress in this regard has been made by introducing new procedures for the establishment of new schools and by expanding the diversity of the existing primary school network.

In regard to new school establishment, the Government introduced arrangements in 2011 that give parents an opportunity to express their preference for the type of new school to be established. Since 2011, forty-five new schools have been established in areas of demographic need and all of these have involved consultation with parents as to their preferred type of school. Over 90% of the new schools (forty-one out of the forty-five) have a multi-denominational ethos.

It has also been a priority to expand diversity of provision in the existing primary school network. Given that most of the existing primary schools are under the patronage of the Catholic church, there has been an ongoing engagement with the Catholic Church with regard to introducing a greater diversity of school patronage in areas of identified demand. To date, eight new primary schools have opened under the patronage divesting process and work is ongoing to deliver new options for parents in other areas as quickly as possible.

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