Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
310. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of his plans for the establishment of an Educate Together school in Westport; the steps which have been taken to date to establish the school; and the proposed date for the school to open. [24332/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, I have announced new plans aimed at accelerating the provision of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of parents, families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment to reach 400 such schools by 2030.
I would point out that the previous model of patronage divestment yielded only a very limited number of schools for transfer to multi-denominational patrons (10 since 2013). I believe that the new schools reconfiguration for diversity process has the potential to significantly increase patron diversity in our school system.
While these new structures are being introduced, my Department will continue to work with the main stakeholders to progress delivery of diversity in areas already identified, including Westport. In this regard, my Department has been working closely with Educate Together to progress the establishment of a new multi-denominational school in Westport.
