Deputy Phil Hogan has called on the Taoiseach to reverse the decision of the Minister for Education to reduce funding to Protestant secondary schools.
The Fine Gael Environment Spokesman revealed that failure to reverse the decision would have major implications for the 800-pupil Kilkenny College Protestant secondary boarding school.
Deputy Hogan said that boarding schools like Kilkenny College were necessary so that Protestant pupils in areas where there is no Protestant second-level school, have an opportunity to attend a school of their religious ethos.
“Now this school is one of the 21 Protestant secondary schools that have been targeted for the harshest cuts by the Minister for Education,” he said.
“The Minister had claimed these schools were only being brought into line with the fee-charging Catholic schools. The reality is that these 21 schools have had more taken away from them by these cuts than any other sector. It also means that Protestant schools now receive a proportionally lower allocation of teachers than in the Catholic sector. It is hard to see how this kind of discrimination can be justified.”
Deputy Hogan said that when free education was introduced in 1967, special provision was made for Protestant and other minority faith schools so that they could be treated equitably. Since then they had been able to avail of the same basic grants and benefits as other schools in the free scheme.
“Bishop Diarmuid Martin has no problem in allowing the continuation of funding for Protestant schools and has respected the position that has existed since the introduction of free education in the sixties. The ethos of the Protestant minority has been treated fairly by all governments in this Republic under the free education system. Why this sudden change in the funding system that has been there for over 40 years?” He asked.
