§ Mr. KilfedderTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has any proposals to grant formal constitutional or statutory guarantees to Protestant and Roman Catholic schools that they will be treated equally as envisaged in paragraph 8.51 of the report of the Standing Advisory Committee on Human Rights (Cm. 1107).
§ Dr. MawhinneyAs was said when the SACHR report was published on 26 June 1990, it is a document of breadth, sensitivity and complexity whose recommendations need careful consideration before any conclusions are reached.
§ Mr. KilfedderTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the framework granted to Roman Catholic schools with the formation of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools will be extended to Protestant and integrated schools.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe vast majority of schools in Northern Ireland, other than the voluntary grammar schools, are either controlled schools or Catholic maintained schools. Since controlled schools are in the ownership and management of the education and library boards, there is no need to establish a further body for them analogous to the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools.
There are a small number of maintained schools still in the ownership of the Protestant churches and there are seven maintained integrated schools. I have no plans at present to establish bodies analogous to the council for these schools.