Minister Quinn assures schools there is
‘no timeline’ for overhaul of the system
Ruairí Quinn says: “I want reform to commence. Let people – in their own ways and in their own time – make [their] choices”
School patronage and school communities are under no pressure to transfer from the Catholic Church to other patrons, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn stressed yesterday.
Mr Quinn – who said last year that 1,500 schools could be divested – said there was “no timeline” for change. “I want reform to commence. Let people – in their own ways and in their own time – make [their] choices.”
He said the phased and gradual divestment of schools – proposed by a report of the forum on patronage – would help to allay fears about the process. The report, which has been written to give guidance on how best to transfer Catholic schools to other patrons, was published yesterday.
“I hope and believe that the system [of divestment] will be inclusive; it will not be disruptive. And as it shows itself to be inclusive it will generate confidence within the wider school community and then it will be up to people to decide how they want to proceed. I have no timeline on this. I want the process to succeed and be secure.”
The Minister said he was greatly encouraged by the measured public response to the publication of the forum’s report. He planned to review the report next month. A White Paper on the issue would also be published by Government, in accordance with a commitment made in the programme for government.
In its first phase the forum identifies 43 towns and four Dublin areas where there is likely to be a significant demand for educational diversity.
The Council for Education of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference welcomed the report’s publication. It said it would study the report and “reflect on its various recommendations”.
“The report clearly affirms the importance of denominational schools and the continuance of faith formation, including sacramental preparation, in Catholic schools,” the council noted.
The Integration Centre described the Minister’s determination to overhaul the school patronage system as “brave, given the complexity of the system and the current economic situation”.
“It is of the utmost importance that this work is not left to stand alone,” said chief executive Killian Forde. The Minister must ensure it was the beginning of a process towards a system of schooling that fairly represented the people of Ireland.
He welcomed the call for a review of the opt-out available to schools in the Equal Status Act, which allows schools to refuse admission based on religion. “The Integration Centre would like to see this section revised so that no child is ever refused access to an education.”
He also welcomed the call to delete rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools. He said this rule, which mandates teachers to inculcate Christian values throughout their teaching, was “at the core of what is wrong with the current system”. The Iona Institute, however said this would “seriously weaken the right of denominational schools to permeate the school day with their ethos”.
Senator Ivana Bacik said “fundamental changes to the current denominational structure of primary schooling in Ireland are long overdue”. She was concerned implementation might be delayed however. “I urge the Minister and the relevant patrons to move swiftly to ensure that some increase in provision of multidenominational places is made immediately,” she said.
RULE 68 ON RELIGION: WHAT IT STATES
“OF ALL the parts of the school curriculum, Religious Instruction is by far the most important as its subject matter, God’s honour and service, includes the proper use of all man’s faculties, and affords the most powerful inducements to their proper use.
“Religious Instruction is, therefore a fundamental part of the school course and a religious spirit should inform and vivify the whole work of the school. The teacher should constantly inculcate the practice of charity, justice, truth, purity, patience, temperance, obedience to lawful authority and all the other moral virtues.
“In this way he will fulfil the primary duty of an educator, the moulding to perfect form of his pupils’ character, habituating them to observe, in their relations with and with their neighbour, the laws which God, both directly through the dictates of natural reason and through Revelation, and indirectly through the ordinance of lawful authority, imposes on mankind.”
A Moderate increase in Irish people registering to pay the €100 household levy charge
In the space of a week, the Government has struggled to pass the halfway mark of people who are liable to pay the new house levy tax, the money generated so far by the controversial household charge is 82.3 million.
At the beginning of last week, the number of homes that had paid the €100 charge was up to 822,747 – this meant that €82.3million, or roughly 51.2 per cent of the overall €160million had been met.
However, the Irish Independent reports that over Easter weekend, registrations continued to flow into the Department of the Environment.
Over the weekend, just under 7,000 registrations were made. This means that the current figure of households that have paid the charge now stands at 890,000.
This figure includes 150,000 applications that were made by post and have yet to be processed. Although according to reports, the majority of household charge payments are being made online.
As the days over the March 31st deadline continue to pass, it seems that more and more homeowners are giving in and paying the tax. We bet this news is music to Phil Hogan’s ears.
Speaking about the payments, a spokesman for the Department of the Environment said that the weekend payments came in at a “steady flow.” That being said, local authorities are still looking at a 50 per cent shortfall on the payment rate.
The widely-disputed €100 tax per household was expected to raise €160million which would be used to fund public services, according to the Minister for the Environment.
The household charge is intended to replace the Local Government Fund, which was set up to ensure that the exchequer would fund the smaller local authorities across the country.
While funding from the exchequer totalled €164million for local authorities last year, this year the total has been reduced and replaced by the revenue generated by the household charge.
Unless the entire €160million target is achieved, local authorities will be facing a major gap in their funding.
We imagine that the money-collecting efforts of some local authorities could get redoubled as the weeks pass..
Surgeons get the moratorium lifted to fill nursing gaps in Merlin Park Galway hospital
THE MORATORIUM on employing nurses has been lifted at a hospital in Galway after consultants there raised fears about orthopaedic surgery waiting lists.
Consultants at Merlin Park hospital had written to Minister for Health James Reilly with concerns over the retirement of 30 per cent of nurses from the hospital’s orthopaedic unit.
The orthopaedic unit at the hospital, which is part of the Galway University Hospitals group, has 25 beds and should have 21 nurses.
After retirements, by the end of February, it only had 11. The theatre, with two operating rooms, should have 8.5 nurses, but was down to 4.5 nurses.
As part of the moratorium on public service recruitment, retiring staff were not due to be replaced by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The four orthopaedic consultants at Merlin Park – Stephen Kearns, Fintan Shannon, Bill Curtin and Michael O’Sullivan – had raised concerns over patient safety in a letter to the Minister. They had warned that outpatient waiting lists would grow by 300 per cent and elective surgery would be halved in the unit if the posts were not filled.
The consultants later met Dr Reilly to explain their concerns.
In response to a parliamentary question put down by Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh, Dr Reilly said the HSE was recruiting nurses to “permanently fill vacancies in theatre and on the elective orthopaedic ward”.
Nursing staff had also agreed to work “additional paid hours” and those on reduced hours had agreed to “increase their hours permanently”.
The decision would ensure continuity of orthopaedic services at the hospital, Dr Reilly said.
Mr Walsh said Galway had been “very fortunate to have arguably the best orthopaedic department in the country and an exceptional team of surgeons”.
“They forewarned of this crisis well over a year ago and no measures were taken to avert what was a very dangerous situation,” he said.
“I am glad that steps have finally been taken to ensure the continuity of services and I thank the Minister for his intervention.”
He said the Minister had previously agreed to lift the recruitment embargo at University Hospital Galway and had approved the appointment of 12 nurses.
“It is evidence of a willingness to listen and a common sense approach to the allocation of resources that has been sadly lacking under previous administrations,” Mr Walsh said.
Cannabis Drug seizures in Claremorris and Ballyhanuis Co. Mayo
GARDAÍ have seized a substantial quantity of drugs during a planned operation by the Mayo Divisional Drugs Unit in the Ballyhaunis/Claremorris area.
The crackdown was part of a targeted operation by the unit targeting drug dealers in the area over the last number of weeks.
Over €30,000 of cannabis was seized during a planned operation in Claremorris while €1,500 worth of drugs were discovered in a wooded area in Ballyhaunis.
Two people were arrested and detained for questioning at Claremorris and Swinford Garda Stations.
Both have been released and files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Irish Drivers are ‘paying €30 each’ to cover all those without insurance
The average driver’s annual bill for motor insurance is around €30 higher than it needs to be, as a result of insurers having to cover the cost of damage caused by motorists driving without insurance.
That’s according to the Irish Brokers Association, which today called on the government to consider new laws allowing the cars of uninsured motorists to be confiscated.
The body, which represents 700 insurance intermediaries, says the most recent figures available showed that in 2010, the Motor Insurer’s Bureau of Ireland – a body established to fund claims incurred as a result of untraceable or uninsured drivers – spent €58.9 million covering compensation claims for drivers who had incurred legal, medical and repair costs.
The IBA’s director of general services Brian McNelis explained that these costs were 100 per cent funded by motor insurers, who in turn had to pass on the costs to their paying policyholders – meaning the cost of the average policy was increased by about €30.
In an attempt to tackle the use of uninsured cars, the UK has introduced legislation requiring all cars to be insured, irrespective of whether they are used on public roads or not.
While McNelis said the IBA was not looking for a similar law here – acknowledging that some motorists had had to temporarily retire their cars as a result of their financial circumstances – he said the current penalties “are not acting as a sufficient deterrent.
“We would urge compliant drivers to report those that don’t have insurance as they are ultimately paying their insurance for them,” he said.
Driving without insurance is a criminal offence in Ireland, carrying maximum fines of up to €2,500 as well as disqualification from driving for one year on the first offence, and over two years in subsequent offences.
The law also allows for maximum prison terms of six months for a second offence, though in practice these are rarely imposed.
