Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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702. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the implementation of the recommendations in the report by the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism; if there is a roadmap for furthering the recommendations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6818/16]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the primary school sector, which issued its report in 2012, recommended steps that could be taken to ensure that the education system can provide a sufficiently diverse number and range of primary schools to cater for children of all religions and none.

The Report's recommendations covered four broad areas: - those dealing with planning towards future patronage arrangements and having a more diverse range of patronagetypes for new schools in areas of rising population;

- those dealing with the practicalities of achieving divesting of patronage where there is a stable population and a demand for diversity of school types;

- those dealing with Irish language provision; and

- those dealing with the creation of more inclusive schools.

An Action Plan in response to the Forum report was produced in June 2012 and work on implementation has been advanced by my Department in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

A follow-up paper, entitled "Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector: Progress to Date and Future Directions", was published in 2014. The paper gave an update on the progress made to date on implementing the Forum's recommendations, with a particular focus on the issue of inclusion and diversity in schools. The paper outlined good practice and options for promoting diversity in schools, in particular in relation to:

- The right to opt out of religion classes;

- Scheduling of Religion Classes and other Religious Activities;

- Options for Pupils in relation to Religious Ceremonies of the Ethos of the School;

- Celebration of Religious Festivals; and

- Display of Religious Artefacts

Officials in my Department have continued to engage with stakeholders on these matters.

It has been a priority for a number of years to expand diversity of provision in the primary school network. Since 2011, twenty-four new primary 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. Of these new schools, twenty-three have a multi-denominational ethos, and the remaining school has an inter-denominational ethos.

In line with the recommendations of the Forum, it has also been a priority to expand diversity of patronage 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 transferring patronage of schools in particular areas.

Following surveys of parents in 43 areas of stable population, which aimed to establish the level of parental demand for a wider choice in the patronage of primary schools, including the demand for Irish medium schools, there was sufficient parental demand supporting change in 28 of these areas. To date, eight new primary schools have opened under the patronage divesting process. Work is on-going to deliver further options for school patronage diversity in other areas as quickly as possible and I have undertaken a round of consultations with the principal patron bodies over the last number of months with the aim of reinvigorating the process in an effort to achieve greater diversity of school provision.

Since 2008, a new model of primary school patronage, Community National Schools (CNS), has been piloted in response to the increasing demand for parental choice in the patronage of primary schools. The distinguishing feature of CNSs is that they are multi-denominational schools which allow for the provision of faith formation during the school day. The aim of the model is to cater for the diversity present within the community in a single school setting, rather than in more than one school. There are now a total of eleven Community National Schools.

In relation to the development of a curriculum for Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics in primary schools, as recommended by the Forum, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment recently completed a consultation process on proposals for such a curriculum. A final consultation report on the development of the curriculum is due in the summer.