Carey says State must take control of church-run schools
IRELAND
The Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY and HARRY McGEE
The State must take over management of schools and stop “copping out” of its responsibilities in education, Government chief whip Pat Carey has said in the context of the continuing fallout from the Ryan report.
Speaking to The Irish Times last night, Mr Carey said there was now “an opportunity to explore how the State can take on its responsibilities for delivering an educational system”.
He said he was was thinking principally of primary education, and of all the denominations running schools in that sector. At second level he felt there may be difficulties as many schools in that sector are run by trusts. Speaking as someone who taught at primary level for 30 years, he believed the State had been “copping out” of its responsibility in education and that “though [financially] this might not be the time to do it, there is never a good time”.