There are no plans to change the existing primary school system. Some confusion may have arisen on this point and I would like to take the opportunity to clarify matters for the Deputy.
In the first instance it is important to explain the historical context in which the current patronage system has evolved and the arrangements whereby there is associated school property ownership by religious patrons.
The historical and societal development of primary education provision in Ireland has resulted in the current school patronage system which is of a predominantly denominational nature. For many years, religious orders and local parishes were centrally involved in establishing and running schools in Ireland, leading to the majority of primary schools being under religious patronage.
There are in excess of 3,000 primary schools. Many of these are long-established and pre-date the foundation of the State. Most of our schools were founded on the initiative of a local patron, generally one of the main established churches (Catholic or Church of Ireland). Historically, the patron provided the site for the school and also contributed to the cost of building and running schools. The vast majority of primary schools are thus privately owned i.e. the site/building is owned by the relevant school patron.
Where state monies were provided to facilitate building works to school property owned by a third party, a legal mechanism had to be put in place in order to protect the State's interest. This was known as a Charging Lease or Declaration of Trust. These leases protect the Minister's capital investment in the school property and require that the property be used as a school for a set period.
It is important to clarify and to point out that there is no planned change to the status of primary schools. The ethos of a school is determined by the Patron. A Board of Management manages the school on behalf of the Patron. Section 15 (2) (b) of the Education Act, 1998 makes it clear that one of the duties of the Board of Management is to uphold the ethos of the school and to be accountable to the patron for doing so. That applies to any school (denominational or multi-denominational).
The arrangements referred to, in terms of agreement to put in place a Deed of Variation, which provide for a variation on the original terms of Charging Leases or Declarations of Trust, date back to the 1990s. As a result of negotiations in the late 1990s on the reconstitution of Boards of Management, an agreement was reached whereby patrons agreed to cede representatives on the Boards of Management in lieu of the Department agreeing to insert a Deed of Variation into the existing property lease. The objective of this Deed of Variation is to provide security for the denominational ethos of a school in cases where a patron or trustee owns the property. Discussions have taken place with the relevant patron bodies over the years to obtain a mutually acceptable solution which meets this objective and these discussions are ongoing.
Irish schools are catering for a significantly more diverse population nowadays than the population that they traditionally served. Many schools have made significant efforts to welcome this more diverse population. There has been a positive contribution by patrons, school management and teachers to welcoming pupils including those from different cultural and belief backgrounds.
With regard to admission policies, irrespective of property or Charging Lease arrangements, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The enrolment policy must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. Existing equality legislation, which outlaws discrimination in relation to the admission of a student, makes provision for exemptions to apply in the case of single sex schools and in the case of schools where the objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values.
The Equality legislation provides that any primary or post primary school whose objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values may admit a student of a particular religious denomination in preference to other students. The legislation also provides that such a school can refuse to admit a student who is not of that religion only where the school proves that this refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
The objective of the recently published Education (Admission to Schools) Bill is to provide an over-arching framework to ensure that how schools decide on who is enrolled and who is refused a place in schools is more structured, fair and transparent.
The Bill does not propose changes to the existing equality legislation. However, the Bill provides for schools to explicitly state in the school's admission policy that it will not discriminate against an applicant for admission on the grounds of disability, special educational needs, sexual orientation, family status, membership of the traveller community, race, civil status, gender or religion.
The Bill provides for schools to publish an enrolment policy which will include details of the school's arrangements for students who do not want to attend religious instruction.
