One of the most difficult issues that has arisen in the context of the debate over the transfer of denominational primary schools to other patrons is whether the present owner and patrons of such schools should be financially compensated. The Church of Ireland has offered an imaginative solution to this problem.

There is a school of thought (no pun intended) that Church-run schools should be handed over to new patron bodies without any financial recompense whatever. There is the additional problem that money is scarce at the moment in any case.

However, here is what the Church of Ireland’s Board of Education has to say on this score in their submission to the Forum on the future patronage of primary schools.

First of all, they refuse point blank to countenance simply giving away any of their schools. Their schools, they point out, are connected to their parishes.

Parishes, they add “may have given the site for the school and may have given other financial support in one way or another down the years”.

They say: “It would be difficult to see how a parish would agree to the Patron divesting their school without it being compensated for the financial/economic contribution the parish community have made to the existence and maintenance of the school over many years.
 
“The local parish might well consider it their right to receive compensation for any financial contributions to the school.”

Where a straight transfer in return for money isn’t possible, they propose that the existing patron might instead “lease the land and/or building (perhaps at a peppercorn rate) to the new patron body”.

Failing this, they suggest: ”In relation to compensation to a parish, it would seem that the only other compensation that might be given would be for the new patron to give an undertaking that the admissions policy of the school would ensure that children of the Parish and/or the Church and/or another Church would have priority entry on the admissions policy.”

This last proposal would almost certainly be resisted by the INTO which doesn’t like the admission policies of the existing denominational schools giving priority to children of their own faith. Fianna Fail is of the same view.

The Church of Ireland does not currently suffer from the very poor image of the Catholic Church. Therefore its recommendations in regard to financial compensation is more likely to be taken seriously than if it had come from the Catholic bishops. Certainly it seems to offer a way forward.