Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Government would consider the idea of a national forum on the governance of primary schools as suggested by the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
Mr Cowen told the Dáil today he welcomed Dr Martin’s general approach and his “openness” on the matter.
And he said the issue can be best dealt with in the context of Church-State dialogue when he meets with Catholic hierarchy soon.
Last night Dr Martin said the Catholic near monopoly over schooling is “not tenable” and does not reflect current realities.
In a speech to members of the Irish Primary Principals Network in Dublin he said: “It is clear that a system in which 92 per cent of all primary schools are managed by the Roman Catholic Church in a country where the Catholic population is 87 per cent is certainly not tenable”
The archbishop also suggested that a widely consulting national forum on the future of education should be set up.
Decisions based on the “polemics of the moment” are less likely to be successful, he said. “Education is too important an issue for it to be left just to teachers, or just to the Department of Education, or just to one or other political or religious grouping.”
In the Dáil today, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the archbishop appeared “far ahead” of the Government on the matter. And he called Dr Martin’s idea of a national forum on education “a vey progressive suggestion”.
The Taoiseach replied by saying he had not read the archbishop's speech but would study it and seek opinions from the minister concerned.
