The State still funds Catholic chaplains in ETB schools and colleges with over €10 million a year to assist Catholic parents with the faith formation of their children. That sits uneasily with how ETBs are marketed as the alternative to denominational schools.
What the law says
In 1998, the Supreme Court held in Campaign to Separate Church and State v. Minister for Education that paying chaplains was not an unconstitutional endowment of religion because the State was enabling parents’ constitutional right to have their children formed in their faith, not promoting a church for its own sake.
That foundation remains.
As Bishop Tom Deenihan told the School Chaplains’ Association (2022), the Deeds of Trust(Community Schools) and the Model Agreement (Designated Community Colleges) are robust instruments that a Minister can’t unilaterally change. They embed chaplaincy and set the practical arrangements for religion and chaplaincy in these schools. He said:
“Time moved on, a Financial crisis emerged, a new Government was appointed and Ruairi Quinn became minister for Education in 2011. On his appointment, we were told by Martin Hanevey, a Department of Education Assistant Secretary in a Radio Interview, that the minister sought the advice of the Attorney General on stopping the appointment of salaried, ex-quota chaplains. The attorney General responded that the Model Agreements and Deeds of Trust are so legally robust that the minister cannot change them unilaterally.
That is a major factor that should give you some reassurance. Neither an ETB or a Diocese can change a Deed of Trust, an Instrument of Management or a Model Agreement without the consent of the other signatory. I cannot emphasise that point sufficiently.”
“The practical arrangements for chaplaincy and the teaching of religion was set forth in the Deed of Trust and Instruments of Management for the Community School and in the Model Agreement for the Designated Community College.
I am sure that many of you will be aware of the identical nature of the provision in relation to religious education and chaplaincy in the Deeds of Trust and Instruments of Management for Community Schools and in the Model Agreements of Designated Community Colleges.
These provisions have faced some threats and opposition during the years and, particularly, in recent times.
The Campaign for the Separation of Church and State took an action in 1996, challenging the Minister for Education paying denominational chaplains. The litigation was unsuccessful and Mr. Justice Costello stated that ‘it is clear that one of the important reasons why chaplains as well as teachers are appointed to the staff of community schools is for the purpose of assisting in the religious formation of the children attending the school (assistance which, inter alia, is given by the celebration of Mass in the school).
In effect, the State, by paying salaries for chaplains, is having regard to the rights of parents vis-a-vis the religious formation of their children and enabling them to exercise their constitutionally recognised rights. If this is the purpose and effect of the payment how can it be said to be unconstitutional?’, Mr. Costello stated.
The Barrington judgment acknowledged that chaplains provided an extra dimension to religious education, ‘evidence has established that chaplains, besides looking after the pastoral needs of the children, helped them with counsel and advice about their day-to-day problems’ he said. Of course, you know that better that either he or I.”
What ETBs say vs what happens
ETBs now say they don’t do religious instruction, they do religious education. But chaplains, approved by the relevant religious authority, typically Catholic, still:
- assist Catholic parents with faith formation, and
- organise religious worship, and
- often contribute to religion classes.
So, we’re told there is no religious instruction, yet the State still funds roles whose explicit purpose is faith formation. That’s a contradiction.
Why it matters for equality and pluralism
These schools are presented as the alternative to denominational schools. Yet the governance instruments still allow the religious authority a decisive say in chaplain appointments. How is that consistent with equality and pluralism in publicly funded education?
There’s also a legal sting in the tail. The 1998 ruling rested on chaplains assisting parental faith formation. If chaplains are recast as general pastoral workers without that purpose, the constitutional justification weakens. The State could then look less like it’s facilitating parental rights and more like it’s endowing religion.
The Supreme Court also said it is impermissible for a chaplain to instruct a child in a faith other than the child’s without the parents’ express consent. That standard should be explicit in ETB practice and communicated to parents and students.
What should change
- The Department and schools should tell the truth. If schools retain Catholic chaplaincy with worship and faith formation, don’t sell them as religion-neutral alternatives.
- The legal instruments should be updated. If ETBs genuinely want religion-neutral schools, the Deeds of Trust and Model Agreement must be either revised, by agreement with the church parties, or replaced by instruments consistent with equality and pluralism.
- The Department and schools should also be honest about the legal basis. If the State continues funding chaplains, they should say clearly that this is to facilitate parental faith formation (as per the 1998 logic), and publish transparent costs and oversight.
- They should guarantee the right to not attend religious instruction, and the right to consent or not, in practice. Make the consent standard real, accessible, and audited, with non-punitive alternatives for students who do not attend.
You can’t market ETBs as the alternative while keeping the chaplaincy architecture that presumes Catholic faith formation. The state should either reform the architecture, or be straight about what’s being funded and why.