Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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553. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if patronage will feature as part of the national convention on education. [48809/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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554. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the terms of reference for the national convention on education will be published. [48810/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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556. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if reconfiguration will be part of the national convention on education. [48812/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 553, 554 and 556 together.

Planning for the Convention on Education is ongoing, and further information will be made available in due course. I am working with my officials to develop this exciting, once in a generation opportunity for everyone living in Ireland to have their say on the future of education

I am committed to ensuring that this Convention will reflect the Ireland of today, in all its diversity, and in particular the voices of children and young people, their parents and guardians, and education stakeholders. With this in mind, the Convention will launch the first ever national conversation on education with school communities and national stakeholders.

This national conversation will inform what changes may be needed to the education landscape to help ensure responsiveness of the system to children and young people’s needs over the years and decades to come, to reflect on how best to provide for what is working well and to examine what needs to be changed.

Our goal with the Convention is to develop an ambitious vision and programme of work for education that will deliver both over the coming years and in the medium-term future as well. The findings from these consultations will shape the agenda for the Convention, which in turn will be agreed by Government

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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555. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the parental survey on patronage will be published. [48811/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Most primary schools are State-aided parish schools, with the local Bishop as school patron. It is recognised, including by the Catholic school patrons, that an educational landscape is needed which more accurately reflects the reality of our increasingly diverse society and meets the expectations parents have for their children.

The Programme for Government commits to seeking to increase choice for parents by ensuring that families can access both multi/non-denominational and faith-based education.

The opportunities for the establishment of new multi-denominational primary schools have declined. Demographic trends and projections at primary school level nationally have peaked.

In order to maximise the use of the existing school estate, my department has developed the schools recon?guration process. The schools reconfiguration process aims to meet demand from local school communities and to accelerate the delivery of multi-denominational schools by transferring schools to multi-denominational patrons, where school communities support this.

When a school transfers from the patronage of one patron to another, the school remains open with the same roll number, operating from the same school property and with the same school staff and pupils.

My department has published a comprehensive Education Plan 2025 that outlines a significant body of work being undertaken this year to deliver for everyone in our school and youth services’ communities.

There are over 100 actions in this plan including a commitment to launch a survey of primary school parents and guardians and parents and guardians of children not yet in school on their preferences on important aspects of school provision and choice, such as the future patronage and ethos of their school. I intend to launch the survey in the coming period. Further details will be announced in due course.