Forward planning is a rare thing in this State. So, publication of a schools building and refurbishment programme to cater for a growing number of primary school pupils over the next three years and for those at second level until 2025 represents a welcome development. Government funding of €3 billion will see the phasing out of prefab accommodation while some 60,000 additional places will be provided at primary and secondary level in response to a baby boom.
That is the good news. The bad news is that children of minority faiths and of none continue to be discriminated against in their efforts to gain access to Catholic-run primary schools. The State's human rights advisory body, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, has challenged the Government to legislate and ensure that no child can be refused entry on the basis of religion.
Its intervention reflects a growing anger among those parents who are obliged to baptise their children if they wish to attend oversubscribed Catholic primary schools. About one-in-five Catholic-run schools are oversubscribed at present but this situation is likely to worsen because of a growing population.
An Admissions to Schools Bill, designed to provide legitimate, reasonable and fair access for children, will be placed before the Oireachtas by Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan in the coming weeks. But it is unlikely to trump a provision in the Equal Status Act that specifically permits school managements to discriminate on the basis of religion.
Until that issue is confronted, progress in ensuring fair access to State-funded schools is likely to be as limited as the actions of Catholic bishops in divesting themselves of school patronage. Social and political pressure on the issue has grown to such an extent that the Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin found it necessary to warn his colleagues against any further foot-dragging on their part. Equitable access to primary education is likely to figure in the coming election campaign.