Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
298. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Education whether the facilitators report on the proposed divestment at schools (details supplied) has been revised following submissions from interested parties; if a finalised report will be produced and circulated to stakeholders; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30751/23]
View answerIn respect of the pilot area to which the Deputy refers, the facilitator prepared a preliminary report with a recommendation, based on engagement with stakeholders, including school staff and parents on whether there is sufficient demand for transfer of patronage and change of ethos or whether the school community wishes to remain under the patronage of the Catholic Church, and submitted this to the patron.
This preliminary report to the patron was circulated to the school community, including staff and parents, and a dedicated e-mail address was provided so that the school community could provide any feedback/views. As part of the process, my Department collated this and provided it to the relevant facilitator, who reflected this, as appropriate, in the facilitator’s final report to the patron.
The facilitator’s final report was submitted to the patron who reflected on the level of demand as indicated in the report. The patron then communicated with the schools on whether there was sufficient demand for transfer of patronage and change of ethos or whether the school would remain under Catholic patronage. In this instance the facilitators recommendation in their final report remained unchanged, there is a majority interest in Raheny for the three schools to remain under the Catholic patronage.
In relation to the pilot reconfiguration process in general, the engagement at local level across the seven pilot areas was largely concluded at the end of Q1 2023 and the process has been very helpful in clarifying the level of demand for reconfiguration.
As this was a pilot process it was always intended to review its operation and examine the learnings. The review, by my Department, of the process in these pilot areas and the engagement with the school communities is underway. The review is considering the learnings going forward, including the aspects that worked well, the elements that can be improved upon and the pathway on the process for providing multi-denominational options for parents in other towns and areas of the country going forward.
It is the intention of my Department to publish the final facilitator reports for the schools engaged with as part of this pilot in due course.
