Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has blamed poor planning by the Department of Education and other State agencies for the crisis in school places in north and west Dublin.
He also said the State's failure to establish its own State-run management structure for primary schools was a contributory factor in the current crisis.
"I would be very happy to see a plurality of patronage and providers of education. I have no ambition to run the entire education system in Dublin," he said.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Archbishop Martin said it was grossly unfair to blame the church's enrolment policies for the pressure on school places in Balbriggan, Diswellstown and other areas.
"In Balbriggan the Catholic schools expanded to absolute capacity this year to try and alleviate the situation. The problem in the area was pointed out to the authorities by all the schools as far back as 2003, which was ample time to address the question."
Asked about the apparent exclusion of foreign nationals, Archbishop Martin said: "Half of the junior infants in St Teresa's school [ in Balbriggan] this year are children of immigrants. We did the same with Scoil Choilm in Diswellstown where we agreed to be patron for a new school almost exclusively made up of children with an international background."
The core issue was the pressure on school places. "And it is not my job to provide teachers and classrooms . . . that is the State's job."
The reality, he said, was that the Department of Education did not have a long tradition of planning for schools. "In the past, they did not have to."
Archbishop Martin said the authorities had been warned in Diswellstown and elsewhere of a potential school crisis but little had been done. "The Catholic education system has been far-seeing and has provided Catholic schools for Catholic parents. We have done our job, if there are others who are left without schools they should not blame us." Asked about the controversial decision of some schools to exclude children without a baptismal certificate, he said it would have been "dishonest to have an enrolment policy that did not reflect the fact that our schools provide a Catholic education".
Archbishop Martin said some people appeared to believe that all the problems of the education system would be solved if the Catholic Church was relieved of its management role. This underestimated the huge public demand for Catholic education; over 50 per cent of the population say it is their preferred model, he said.
It was also wrong to assume that an entirely State-run education system - managed by the Department of Education in Marlborough Street, Dublin - would necessarily be better. Experience from England and elsewhere suggested this was not the case as the system became politicised. "I would not like to see local schools become the fiefdoms of local political parties," he said.
Over 3,000 of the State's 3,280 primary schools are controlled by the Catholic Church. Archbishop Martin said he had no interest in dominating the provision of education in Dublin and he would welcome debate about the future management model.
Last year, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announced the establishment of a new State-run primary school system. But the first school operating under this system is not expected to open for several years.
The archbishop said he could envisage "divesting current Catholic schools" where there was no demand for Catholic education.
"Take an area where there are five schools . . . over a period of time, and in consultation with parents and teachers, you could rationalise that and ensure you have sufficient number of schools for Catholics and other patrons."
