Minister for Education Richard Bruton has announced that he will end the policy of Catholic schools preferring members of their own faith when schools are oversubscribed. The change will not apply to minority faith. Minister Bruton said he is doing this so that parents will no longer have to baptise their children simply to get them into a local Catholic school, even though this is extremely rare. Opposition to the plan has already been voiced. The educational office of the Catholic bishops said the move was unfair and will treat Catholic parents differently from all other faiths, while the chief executive of the Catholic Schools Partnership, Ferdia Kelly, said the plans will not solve the problem of access to over-subscribed schools as no additional places are being provided. He also questioned the constitutionality of the measures which will be “examined carefully” by the sector.