Changes in the proposed education Bill could undermine the Irish education system, Catholic Church representatives have warned.
Speaking before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education last Wednesday, church representatives criticised the Bill, saying it would shift the balance of the education system “too strongly in favour of the Minister and the department”, without due regard to existing school partners.
The new Bill proposes that a teacher remunerated by the Oireachtas may be deployed to another school on consultation with but not necessarily in agreement with patrons.
Speaking before the committee, Bishop Brendan Kelly, and the director for education of the archdiocese of Dublin Anne McDonagh, expressed the fears of the church that such large-scale redeployment of teachers would “undermine the characteristic spirit or ethos of a school”.
The representatives said they were concerned the Bill might “inadvertently undermine the checks and balances that underpin our education system”.