Parental choice “must be at the heart of education policy”, according to Fine Gael’s education spokesperson Brian Hayes. Speaking to the Irish Catholic newspaper, Mr Hayes said that there should be no “one-size-fits-all approach to educational provision”.

Speaking in the wake of calls for a State takeover of denominational schools, Mr Hayes said that parents were “the natural educators of their children”.

He added that he favoured a variety of patron bodies running schools, including the Churches and Educate Together, a non-denominational body. Patronage was not, he said, “a burning issue for parents”.

Parents, he continued, were more concerned with their children receiving a good quality education.

Meanwhile, a statement from a spokesperson on behalf of Fianna Fáil said that the party still supports the right of parents to send their children to publicly funded, Church-run schools.

Presently, about 93 per cent of Ireland’s primary schools are Catholic, with most of the remainder being run by other churches.

The debate over denominational education has been prompted by the publication of the Ryan report