The Department of Education’s plan to survey parents online to determine whether they want their local Catholic school to 
be run by a different patron body has been criticised by the Catholic Church’s leading spokesperson on schools.
Chairperson of the Irish Catholic Schools Partnership Fr Michael Drumm (pictured) has said that an online survey of parents might suffer from “mass non-participation” and therefore would not be properly representative.
He was responding to the news that the Department of Education has begun to survey parents in five areas to establish which patrons they wish to see operating primary schools.
The parents of preschool and primary school children in Arklow, Castlebar, Tramore, Trim and Whitehall, where there are a considerable number of Catholic primary schools will be surveyed online to establish their preferences.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Fr Drumm said that he would have preferred a paper based questionnaire sent to all parents and that it was now up to the Department of Education to prove that the online survey will be robust and transparent.
Fr Drumm said that “the real likelihood is of mass non-participation”.
He stressed that that this survey was not a plebiscite or a vote, but is instead a means of determining how many “real parents with real names, real addresses and real children” wanted additional forms of patronage.
“Let’s say 50 activist parents, perfectly understandably go online and they’re mainly active for a new type of school, for a VEC school or an Educate Together school or whatever it might be.
“So the outcome is that 50 parents all vote, all express that they want an additional form of patronage. That does not give us the result of a vote, this is not a plebiscite,” Fr Drumm said.
“What that tells us is that there are 50 people in this area who want this type of school, those who don’t participate, we would have to conclude are actually content with the present situation,” he added.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said some primary schools could be under new patronage by next September if enough parents demand it.
However he added that the process of transferring some schools from Catholic control to other models of patronage in several parts of the country will be slow and careful.
Mr Quinn said that there are 3,200 primary schools in Ireland, 93pc of which are under Catholic patronage.
But he acknowledged that many parents wanted a Catholic education for their children while many others wanted something else.
The results of the survey will be presented to the Catholic Church, which has said that if enough parents in certain areas decide they want a different patron for a school, they will hand over that patronage.
The move is the first step in a process in which schools in 44 areas could be divested of the control of the Catholic Church. The areas in question are those where there is a stable population and a clear demand for a greater diversity of school types.
The other 39 areas will be surveyed from next month.
The National Parents Council urged parents to participate in the survey so the results could truly reflect the wishes of the local communities.
The bodies which have expressed interest in becoming patrons of divested schools in the five areas are An Foras Pátrúnachta, the patron body for Gaelscoileanna in Ireland; Educate Together; VECs; the National Learning Network; and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The survey process will be overseen by the independent New Schools Establishment Group.
The Department of Education will publish detailed reports on the survey outcomes. If the surveys identify demand for alternative patronage in these areas, the department will explore with the existing patrons the transfer of patronage of schools.