Guím Nollaig shona ar an gCeann Comhairle agus ar fhoireann na Dála go léir. The Minister for Education and Skills is present. Today the Joint Committee on Education and Skills will discuss the issue of schools admission and the Equal Status (Admissions to Schools) Bill that is before us. The Minister promised as part of the baptism barrier issue that 400 multi-denominational schools would be established and that by the end of this year a pathway to see how it could be dealt with would be published. It is a bit like the DEIS scheme that Deputy Connolly raised. It has not been published yet and only four of the 400 schools promised by the Government up to 2030 have been delivered. What is the position of these schools? When will they be delivered? When will a plan be announced?

The two items the Deputy raised are entirely separate. The DEIS scheme is for disadvantaged schools and the report will be published in the coming weeks. The commitment with regard to the development of non-denominational options is proceeding. We are developing a plan. It is for 400 schools by 2030 so it is a long-term plan and we are looking at options. We are working with the education and training boards and the other bodies. There is new school patronage. In second level virtually all of them went to non-denominational patrons. The same is true of the primary schools announced this year and there are four further schools for which patronage is being sought. We are making progress. It is not fast enough but I ensure the Deputy we are working on it.