The Department of Education has sent a letter to the Catholic bishops asking them for a list of schools which they are prepared to hand over to other patrons, including the State.
The move comes in advance of discussions set to begin next between the Church and the Department about the future of education in Ireland.
Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin has said that the Church is prepared to hand over control of some of its schools in certain circumstances in view of the declining number of practicing Catholics in the country.
Currently, the Church is patron of 92 per cent of the country’s primary schools.
The talks are set to focus on a process for identifying what schools will be transferred and how this could be done.
Catholic sources welcomed the talks and stressed that they did not mean a withdrawal of the Church from primary education but a concentration in a reduced number of schools.
They said that legal questions would have to be resolved as the schools were held in trust for their local communities.
One stumbling block could be compensation for the schools that are handed over, especially where parishioners have contributed significantly to the building and upkeep
But other sources pointed out that with the state coffers empty there was little money available to offer the Church for the properties.
In the Dail tomorrow, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe faces questions about the talks from Mr Quinn who said that the legacy of history no longer met the reality of modern Ireland.
“Nor does it allow the Catholic Church to genuinely develop its own role as one of six patron groups in the country,” Mr Quinn said.
He added that, subject to Church agreement, new patrons, such as Educate Together, the gaelscoileanna and perhaps the VECs could manage some of the schools currently run by the Catholic Church.
“The remaining Catholic schools could enhance their own ethos with the involvement of committed practising Catholic parents and their children,” he said.
A Church spokesman said that, in their June statement, the bishops had pointed out that in areas where the population had changed, there were sometimes more Catholic schools than were required by the local community.
“In these locations, this will mean reducing the number of Catholic schools, and we are ready to do this,” the bishops said. “Of course we recognise that the local community, parents, staffs and boards and management, have to be consulted in any such change of patronage or ownership.”
A number of prominent figures, including Government Chief Whip Pat Carey TD, as well as Labour’s spokesperson on education, Ruairi Quinn, have called for the gradual disappearance of the Church from primary education in Ireland.
However, two opinion polls commissioned by the Iona Institute have shown that almost three quarters of parents wish to have a choice as to where to have their children educated with half wanted a Catholic education. Only one in four want a fully State-run system.
