asked the Minister for Education if he is aware of a report (details supplied) that the Dublin Synod of the Presbyterian Church have concluded that the INTO demand for equal representation of parents, teachers and managerial interests on boards of management of primary schools is reasonable; and if he shares the synod's belief in the reasonableness of such proposals.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Primary School Boards of Management.
26.
The Dublin Synod's view was incorporated in a resolution to the Education Board of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland considered this resolution and decided that they did not feel themselves competent to pronounce on the issues involved.
Will the Minister answer the last section of my question as to whether he shares the synod's belief in the reasonableness of proposals of equality in relation to the management structure in primary schools?
The Deputy knows that at the moment negotiations are taking place in respect of management, that we are moving from what I suppose could be referred to as an ad hoc arrangement into what would be mandatory in respect of boards of management. In the circumstances of those consultations, he would not expect me to indicate my own special view of the matter.
Would the Minister accept as an accurate assessment of the situation that in these discussions about management there is a total deadlock between the representatives of all the Churches and the teachers' representatives on the appropriate composition of the boards? Would he not consider breaking this deadlock by a ministerial initiative?
I am at loss to understand this suggestion from a Deputy who at other times would be preaching the importance of the Department not giving directions but rather cultivating what might be called the democratisation of education. I am at a loss to understand how he can suggest that it would be appropriate for the Minister or the Department to dictate to anybody in this or similar matters. It is not a view I would accept.
I was not asking for dictation but simply for a ministerial initiative which would break the deadlock that has arisen in the negotiations about the future shape of the boards of management.
If the Deputy is talking now about initiatives, encouragement or exhortations which the Minister might take in respect of the resolution of the problem I agree entirely. I thought he had indicated this was an area where the Minister should give specific directions. That would surprise me and I would not expect in the circumstances that the Minister would give such directions.
Is it not a fact that the ministerial representatives on the review body have played dumb during this conflict between the teachers and the managerial interests on the democratisation of the boards?
We cannot have a debate on this question.
It is not right to attribute dumbness to officials in this area or in any other area——
They have been muzzled.
They discharge their duties with an efficiency and competence that should be acknowledged here rather than criticised.
They are under instructions.
With the permission of the Chair, I should like to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of Question No. 5 on the Order Paper for Thursday, 10 May, due to its unsatisfactory nature, its misleading content on consideration of the actual written reply since then and the additional confusion created by the reply. Further, I should like to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of Question No. 4 on yesterday's Order Paper due to its unsatisfactory nature, and to advocate urgently the revision of certain regulations while there is still time before instructions go out to the presiding officers for the ballot on 7 June.
This is a third matter?
A third matter that may or may not go with the content of Question No. 4 yesterday. Finally, a fourth matter, may I raise on the Adjournment, with your permission, the absolute necessity that exists for an alleviation of the tax on widows' and widowers' incomes?
I shall communicate with the Deputy. The remaining questions will appear on next Tuesday's Order Paper.