Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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93. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which the needs of all children in education will be catered for if there is no requirement for schools to offer alternative subjects to students who do not wish to study religion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42052/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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My Department published Circular 0013/2018 in February 2018, which set out an approach to the arrangements that were to be made for religious instruction and worship in Education and Training Board (ETB) and Post Primary Community schools. This arose from concerns that multidenominational ETB schools were requiring attendance at classes with Catholic religious instruction.

Section 4 of Circular 0013/2018 provided that the school is required to ascertain parental wishes in respect of their child’s attendance at such religious instruction and where a parent did not want religious instruction, the school was required to provide an alternative subject. Where there was any practice of combining or including religious instruction and formation or worship in the same class periods as the NCCA Religious Education syllabus, parents were made aware of this fact so that they could make an informed decision to withdraw from that class if that was their wish.

Newly published Circular 0062/2018 clarifies in Section 3 that withdrawal with an offer of an alternative subject does not arise in relation to the NCCA Religious syllabus where there is no religious instruction or faith formation.

The second important clarification is that where a school intends to provide religious instruction classes, parents must give consent before admission to the class. This means that the issue of opt out does not arise because the parent has requested a place in the religious instruction class.

This Circular has no impact on the right of parents under the Education Act and under the Constitution to opt out of any subject for reason of conscience.