Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
715. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education her plans to expand and prioritise the transfer of viable schools to community national schools, as outlined in the programme for Government. [32477/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government commits to expanding and prioritising the transfer of viable schools to Community National Schools, along with achieving a target of at least 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030 to improve parental choice and to working with communities to ensure the provision of clear, non-partisan information in this regard.
The Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process supporting transfers of schools to multi-denominational patrons in response to the wishes of local families is based around principles of transparency and cooperation. The process has been developed in order to accelerate the delivery of multi-/non-denominational schools across the country. This Reconfiguration process involves the transfer of existing live schools as opposed to the amalgamation and/or closure model of the patronage divesting process.
The initial Identification phase of the process involved each of the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETB) identifying an initial pilot area within their functional area where they considered there may be unmet oncoming demand for a multi-/non-denominational school and arranging for surveys of parents of pre-school children in these areas.
My Department officials have been engaging with representatives of the Irish Episcopal Conference with a view to developing an agreed approach to the next Phase of the process. The identification phase work provides useful learning and is informing the development of the process.
The “Early Movers” provision of the Schools Reconfiguration Process enables school communities which have already decided to seek a transfer of patronage (independent of the survey process envisaged as part of the Reconfiguration process) to engage with their school patron on the matter. A patron may transfer patronage under section 8 of the Education Act 1998. A number of patronage changes have taken place in recent years in this context, resulting in the provision of an additional 11 Community National Schools.
