Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
110. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will give consideration to the concerns outlined in correspondence regarding school admissions policy (details supplied); if his attention has been drawn to the concerns of schools under the patronage of Protestant churches and particularly the smaller schools in rural Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18926/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware I ran a public consultation process from 24th January to 20th March 2017 on the role of denominational religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes.
The 8 week phase of receiving written submissions formed part of the broader 12 week consultation process which will include additional steps, including any follow-up consultation that is required, collation of responses and development of next steps.
My Department has begun the process of examining the submissions and formulating next steps. Clearly I will not make any decisions around next steps until such time as all of the submissions have been examined and considered.
