State aid to schools affects prejudicially the right to not attend religious instruction

We are constantly being told that there is not enough state aid to ensure that our children can attend any school in receipt of this aid and not attend religious instruction (Article 44.2.4 – Irish Constitution)

This can only mean that the legislation providing state aid to schools does ‘affect prejudicially’ the right of our children to attend schools in receipt of state aid and ‘not attend‘ religious instruction. If there is not enough state aid to guarantee the right to not attend religious instruction then the state aid does ‘affect prejudicially’ (do harm to) the right to ‘not attend‘ religious instruction. Our children are left sitting in the religious instruction class and no other subject is offered.

Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution states that:-

“Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school.”

At this stage everyone  accepts that there is a right to not attend religious instruction in the Constitution.  It is a Constitutional right, not a policy decision of the Department of Education.

However, there is far more to Article 44.2.4 then a right to not attend religious instruction in publicly funded schools.

Article 44.2.4 starts with the word ‘legislation’; only the Oireachtas can make legislation.

In addition to that any state aid that the Oireachtas puts in place cannot ‘affect prejudicially’ the right of any child to attend a school and ‘not attend‘ religious instruction. This is part of the text of the Constitution so telling us that there is not enough state aid to supervise our children outside the religious instruction class, or that there is not enough state aid to offer our children another subject simply doesn’t concur with the Constitution.

What you are telling us is that there is not enough state aid to ensure our children do ‘not attend‘ religious instruction. That means that contrary to Article 44.2.4, state aid does ‘affect prejudicially‘ the right of our children to ‘not attend‘ religious instruction, therefore the Oireachtas is breaching its Constitutional responsibility and duty.

We are left in the position that we are campaigning to get the Oireachtas to uphold the Constitution.

 

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