Niamh Smyth
Question:117. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23402/17]
View answerWednesday, 17 May 2017
Questions (117)
Written answers
As the Deputy may be aware I ran a public consultation process from 24 January to 20 March 2017 on the role of denominational religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes. The written consultation process which closed recently attracted almost 1,000 responses from a combination of individuals, schools and stakeholder organisations.
A number of submissions were received from Protestant and other minority faith schools. In this regard, as I have said throughout, I am mindful of the need to avoid possible pitfalls and unintended consequences such as possible impacts on these minority religions and on the wishes of Protestant, Jewish, Islamic and other communities to be able to run schools in accordance with their ethos and admit children from their communities to attend those schools.
The 8 week phase of receiving written submissions formed part of a broader consultation process. I advised that following the receipt and analysis of written submissions, consideration would be given as to whether any additional steps are needed as part of the consultation process. Accordingly, on Monday 15 May I announced that I will hold a Forum on the role of Religion in Primary School Admissions on Monday 29th May 2017.
My aim is to find a solution which addresses the issues in this area, while respecting the strongly-held and legitimate desire of minority religious groups to run schools which are genuinely of their own ethos.