Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton TD has set out his preferred policy approach for amending primary school admissions legislation on the issue of the role that religion can play in the process.

Minister Bruton made his comments at the Oireachtas Committee hearing on the Education (Admissions to Schools) Bill. The issue of the role of religion in school admissions is not currently part of this Bill, and the Minister has previously set out that he believes that we should enact the Admissions Bill, on which there is broad agreement, on a separate track to the complex issues relating to religion. The Dáil, including the Government parties and Fianna Fáil, has recently voted in favour of taking this separate approach.

The issue of the role of religion in school admissions has been the subject of broad discussion and consultation. The Oireachtas Committee has held hearings on this issue and has recently published a report in which it recommended that changes be made, although it does not advocate any specific change.

The Minister has also held a consultation process on the issue, which involved receiving 1000 written submissions, as well as more than 100 people attending a half-day Forum on the subject.

The Minister said:
“Earlier this year I set out my view that I believe it is unfair that preference can be given by publicly-funded denominational schools to children of their own religion who might live some distance away, ahead of children of a different religion or of no religion who live close to the school. I also believe that it is unfair that some parents, who might otherwise not do so, feel pressure to baptise their children in order to gain admission to their local school”.

“Under the Bill being debated today, schools which are not oversubscribed will have to accept all applicants. This means that religion will not be used in admissions to 80% of schools, and in fact this is already the practice in most schools (including denominational schools).

“It is in the 20% other schools that this issue now needs to be addressed. I am seeking to be fair to all parents, while recognising the right of all schools to have their distinctive ethos. The aim is to meet the wishes of non-denominational parents – who now amount to well over 10% of their cohort – without unfairly impinging on the rights of other children”.

Minister Bruton set out that his preference is to remove the capacity for state-funded denominational primary schools, where they are oversubscribed, to use religion as a criteria in admissions process except, in three scenarios:

i. where it would not otherwise be possible to maintain the ethos of the school;

ii. where the school is established by a minority religion, in order to ensure that students of that religion can find a school place in a school of that ethos;

iii. where the school is established by a minority religion, in order to admit a student of that religion who resides in a community consistently served by that school.

This is in effect a version of option 4(iii) as set out in the consultation paper published by the Minister. It will require an amendment to section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act.

What the Minister is setting out today is his proposed policy approach – clearly there are complex legal and constitutional issues which will have to be worked out in order to implement it. Minister Bruton also pledged to work with representatives of different communities as this policy proposal is advanced.

Denominational primary schools make up 96% of all primary schools in the State. Catholic denominational primary schools, in turn, make up approximately 90% of all primary schools in the State. Schools run by minority religious organisations account for 6% of primary schools, or 191 out of 3123 primary schools – the vast majority of these being under the patronage of Church of Ireland (168) and Presbyterian (17) organisations.

The aim of this proposed provision is to ensure that, for the vast majority of State-funded primary schools religion cannot be used as a criteria in school admissions. It is expected that the result of enacting this provision will be that religion cannot be used as a criteria for admissions in virtually all such schools the exception being the small number of oversubscribed schools of minority religious ethos.

Minister Bruton strongly supports the principle that schools are institutions at the centre of a community, and that Government policy should support the development of the school community as this is ultimately to the benefit of the service provided to pupils. There are a number of other measures contained within the Admissions Bill which support this principle, including the strong statement that it is the school which decides its admissions policy, and that who which it can give priority in running this policy include – students from the local area, sublings of existing pupils, children or grandchildren of past pupils.

Minority religious families

The proposal provides comprehensive carve-outs aimed specifically at protecting the position of families of minority religion, given the fact that, as a result of the makeup of the population, changes in this area risk having a major impact on the ability of these families to find places in schools which are genuinely of that ethos. These carve-outs are aimed at: