School facilities to be leased instead of transferred to non-religious patrons

School facilities will be leased out by bishops and religious orders instead of fully transferred to new non-religious patrons, under Education Minister Richard Bruton’s plan to speed up the widening of choice for parents.

With only 10 school properties so far handed over to multi-denominational patrons under current divestment arrangements, he is announcing details of a new process to encourage more divestment of religious-controlled primary schools where parents want alternative patrons.

The ability of some religious orders to retain ownership of school properties while they might still owe the Department of Education millions of euro for redress over industrial school child abuse could cause political headaches for the minister.