Bishops sought prioritisation for Catholic school applicants

Documents received by RTÉ News have revealed that The Catholic Bishops' Conference sought a "binding commitment" from the State to ensure that Catholic children would be given priority access to Catholic schools. In exchange, the bishops would divest a small number of Catholic primary schools to multi-denominational status.

The documents relate to discussions held over the past 18 months between the Department of Education and the Catholic bishops, aimed at progressing the divestment of Catholic schools in nine areas around the country. All of the areas have a large number of Catholic primary schools and little or no multi-denominational provision.

The Programme for Government has committed to the creation of at least 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030. There are currently only 159 primary schools classified as multi or inter-denominational.

“I think it's very, very unlikely that the government will reach its target of 400 schools by 2030,” states David Graham, communications officer with parent-lead human rights group Education Equality, “For that to happen, it would require approximately 25 to 30 schools to be divested every year over the next seven years. And that seems extremely unlikely to happen. For example, I believe that there's only one school scheduled for divestment this year.”

In the past 25 years, the number of interdenominational schools has only increased to represent 5% of the total number of primary schools.

“As it stands, the government is certainly not on track to reach its targets. We would point out that even if that target is reached, approximately 88% of schools in Ireland would remain under religious control because there's well over 3,000 schools.”

It was revealed that, in a meeting in June 2021, the bishops told the Minister for Education that their agreement to divest a number of their schools was "dependent on the ability of schools remaining under Catholic patronage to operate fully as Catholic schools, including the ability to prioritise enrolment of Catholics where there are more applications than places".

The Bishop of Meath, Tom Deenihan, stated that the Admissions Act, passed four years ago, made this “difficult”. This recent legislation outlawed the practice of Catholic schools favouring baptised children over unbaptised applicants.

This favoritism had become the subject of great controversy and was regarded as unfair by many, including the Department of Education, given that 90% of publicly funded schools in the country are Catholic.

The bishops' demand that Catholic schools once again be allowed to discriminate in the admittance of Catholic children was seen by the department as a key stumbling block.

“I think it's very unlikely that they even expect their request to be accepted,” said Graham, ”It strikes me as perhaps more a negotiating tactic. It's very, very unlikely that the government would consider rolling back the reforms that were initiated only a few years ago.”

The department reminded the bishops that the legislation was due to be reviewed in 2023, however officials noted: "It has been made clear that the prospect of the review [...] does not provide the assurance that the IEC (Irish Episcopal Conference) is seeking that their concerns will be addressed before they are willing to adopt a national approach to reconfiguration".

A high-level meeting last June was attended by Minister for Education Norma Foley, the archbishops of Dublin, Cashel and Emly, as well as the bishops of Galway and Meath. The minister was told that Catholic schools must be able to give preference to parents who are committed to the Catholic ethos.

He said that, in some areas, non-Catholic parents were choosing Catholic schools for reasons other than ethos. this could prevent Catholic children from enrolling when schools were overenrolled. The notes state that the bishops' concern was an issue being raised by them "continuously".

However, research carried out by the Department of Education and shared with the bishops last November revealed that the bishops' concern was without foundation. Data showed that just 159 Catholic primary schools, or 6% of the total, were oversubscribed. Additionally, multi-denominational primary schools were found to be four times more likely to have an excess of applicants.

The data shows that in the case of virtually all schools, parents had a nearby alternative with a Catholic ethos. In many cases, parents were choosing those oversubscribed schools over another Catholic school that was geographically closer to them.

"This shows that there are many strong factors other than a school having a Catholic ethos which influence parents on school choice for their children," the department said.

The data identified just 15 Catholic primary schools that were oversubscribed and had no nearby Catholic alternative.

The church acknowledged that the issue affected only a small number of schools, but affirmed that "a binding commitment for some movement on this" was necessary.

“They clearly haven't really entered into the spirit of the process,” implies Graham, “It seems quite clear that the bishops’ intent is to use the reconfiguration or divestment process to extract concessions from the state and to use divestment as a bargaining chip.”

The department said it believed the concerns of the bishops could be "managed", and officials suggested "good co-operation at a local level between schools on admissions processes and use of other criteria such as distance to school" could play a role.

One month after this data was presented, on 13 December, the Catholic bishops signaled their agreement to proceed with the divestment of some Catholic schools in nine areas around the country.

"I am happy to inform you", the letter read, that the bishops "will engage and co-operate fully with the Department in seeking to facilitate a more diverse patronage in those areas identified as having no such provision at present".

In spite of this slight progress, Graham maintains “They [the bishops] are not particularly keen to support the process. They probably accept or recognize that some progress is required, but they intend to use that process as leverage - either by extracting financial concessions from the Department of Education in the form of rent, or by trying to pressurize the Department and by extension the government to roll back some of the progressive legislation.”

In the letter, there is no mention of the concerns regarding access for Catholic children to Catholic schools that previously dogged the negotiations. However, it does refer to "assurances in regard to schools remaining under Catholic patronage.”

The talks with the bishops considered a number of approaches that could be taken, aimed at creating more diversity of provision for parents.

Options included a hybrid approach, similar to the recently adopted practice by one Catholic Gaelscoil in Dublin.

As part of a deal reached between the Catholic church and Irish medium school patron body An Foras Pátrúnachta, Scoil Chaitlín Maude in Tallaght, has agreed to separate children into two distinct groups during the school day. Parents could choose their preference between a Catholic religious education or a multi-denominational Ethics and Morality programme.

The plan was due to be implemented with junior infant pupils last September, though this development has been postponed until next year.

The agreement underpins Scoil Chaitlín Maude's transfer from church to An Foras Pátrúnachta patronage.

It includes a legal guarantee that a Catholic religious education programme approved by the Catholic bishops will continue to be offered in the school, with ongoing oversight from diocesan representatives.

In the documents received by RTÉ News the deal was described by one Catholic church representative as a "good model", with potential elsewhere.

The notes also show the Department of Education expressing support for the expansion of this model to other primary schools as well as frustration at the slow pace of change.