James Reilly says baptising children for State school admission ‘is wrong’

Parents should not be forced to have their children baptised to have them admitted to their State-funded local school, said Children’s Minister and deputy leader of Fine Gael James Reilly.

Members of the UN’s committee reviewing Ireland’s adherence to the convention on the Rights of the Child questioned why schools were allowed to discriminate against pupils and teachers on the basis of their religion.

Mr Reilly admitted that, despite efforts to address the situation where around 90% of schools are largely under religious control, little has changed.