Catholic bishops worry over patronage

PARNELL SUMMER SCHOOL:CATHOLIC BISHOPS have expressed concern that a recent Department of Education document seems to relegate school patrons to the past. They also feel that as key partners in education, they need to be consulted on the provision of new schools

In an address to the Parnell Summer School in Avondale, Co Wicklow, yesterday, Bishop Leo O'Reilly, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' commission on education, drew attention to a document placed on the Department of Education and Science website on August 1st last.

The document, A Code of Practice on the Provision of Schools, was a joint publication by the Department of Education and Science and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Bishop O'Reilly said the bishops welcomed development in this area and that they recognised the need for joined-up infrastructural planning between both departments. But "we have concerns", he said.

He quoted from section six of the document, which said: "Until relatively recently, schools were constructed on land provided by patron bodies . . . and the property was owned by the patron. Since 1999, the Department of Education and Science has moved to a model of site purchase and the lease of the building subsequently constructed to the patron."

Bishop O'Reilly said the bishops' first concern was "that the only mention of school patrons in the entire document is in this brief paragraph, which seems to relegate them to the past and seems to consign their role in school ownership to history. We trust this is not the case.

"Our second concern is about the detail of the lease to patrons of these schools . . . The Department of Education in consultation with the patrons produced a draft lease agreement in 2004 and despite repeated approaches by patrons and management of schools since then, a final lease has not been agreed and published.

"Its publication is all the more urgent in view of this new code of practice on planning. The patron bodies are the educational providers on the ground. They have served the State well in the past and we believe continue to serve it well. As key partners in education they need to be consulted on the provision of new schools," he said.

He said this was "particularly true at second level where there is still no mechanism or protocol for consultation with patrons in relation to the provision of new schools as there is at primary level. One result of this has been that no new voluntary secondary schools had been established for almost a generation with the exception of two small Gael coláistí.

"There seems to be a policy assumption in the Department of Education that every new school at second level should be a multi-denominational State school. We don't accept that," he said.

"The Catholic Church is committed to denominational education and intends to remain a provider for as long as parents choose Catholic schools," he said.