Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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527.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it is public policy to provide enough non-denominational primary school places in school planning areas; the obligations of schools to enrol these pupils and allow them to opt out of the religious curriculum in circumstances where no other school place is available; the position in this regard for the Drumcondra, Marino, Dublin 1 school planning area; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[34218/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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There are no non-denominational primary schools in Ireland. There are currently 169 mainstream primary schools with a multi-denominational or inter-denominational ethos, with this number increasing to 172 from September 2024.

Since 2011, new arrangements have been in place for the establishment of new schools involving the forecasting of demand for school places based on demographic exercises carried out by the Department. New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase so as to ensure that every child has a school place.

These new arrangements also give an opportunity to patrons to apply for the patronage of new schools. The criteria used in deciding on the patronage of new schools place a particular emphasis on parental patronage and language preferences and an analysis of existing provision in the areas where the schools are being established. This approach is underpinned by a 2011 Government Decision.

The patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been in operation under the Department since 2018 and provides objective information to parents in the relevant school planning areas to assist them in making an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage and language of instruction for the new school.

When the Department announces that a new school(s) entity is required, a prospective patron can choose the school(s) it wishes to apply for and complete an application form in that regard for each school, for submission to the Department. The Department provides details on the OPPS of the school(s) and the list of applicant patrons which have applied for patronage of the school(s). Parents can then access the OPPS website, which allows them to access the appropriate survey for their area, to input the details of the eligible child(ren) and to select their preferred patron and language of instruction. Parental preferences, as well as other considerations such as the extent of diversity of provision in an area (including Irish-medium provision), are key to the decision-making process and to whether at post-primary level a school would take the form of a Gaelcholáiste or whether, if English-medium, the school would include an Irish-medium unit or "Aonad".

My Department’s ‘Schools Reconfiguration for diversity process’ supports the transfer of schools from denominational patrons to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of local school communities.

The Government’s goal remains to establish a strong process, that has the support of patrons and local communities, and which will enable us to continue to increase the number of multi-denominational primary schools across the country.

Under Article 44 of the Constitution and in accordance with Section 30 of the Education Act, 1998, parents have a right to have their children opt out of religious instruction classes if they so wish. It is expected that this right will be upheld by schools on foot of a parental request.

Under the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, where schools provide religious instruction, they must clearly set out in their admission policies the school’s arrangements for students, where the parent or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, has requested that the student attend the school without attending religious instruction in the school.

The manner in which any school ensures that the right to opt out of religion classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned. Each individual school must determine the particular arrangements which are most appropriate in its individual circumstances having regard to local issues such as available space, supervision requirements and how the school concerned organises classes etc.

The right of parents to have their child opt out of religion classes applies in all schools regardless of the denomination or ethos of the school concerned.