The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has criticised proposed legislation on school admissions for failing to prevent schools from giving preferential access to children based on their religion.
The IHREC has said it is concerned that the Education (Admissions to School) Bill, which is due to be debated in the Dáil this evening and tomorrow, will continue to allow the country's publicly-funded religious-run schools to discriminate against children of other or no faiths, by placing them further down on waiting lists.
In a submission to the Department of Education the commission says that four times in recent years this situation has been found to be in breach of international treaties that Ireland is a signatory to.
These include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The commission outlines recent findings and recommendations from four UN human rights committees which all recommended that Ireland amend legislation to outlaw the practice.
The IHREC has recommended that legislation be amended so that no child is given preferential access based on their religion.
Responding to the Human Rights Commission's submission Minister for Education Richard Bruton said its observations would be considered.
Mr Bruton said the Dáil had agreed that any amendment to ban discrimination on religious grounds in school admissions would proceed separately to the current bill.
He said an Oireachtas committee was scheduled to begin examining legislation on this issue in June of next year.
He said this would ensure that "the right balance" was struck between competing rights.
Mr Bruton reiterated Government concerns around the constitutionality of any such ban.
However, the IHREC in its submission says legal precedent gives the Oireachtas responsibility in deciding on social policy in such matters.
Mr Bruton said it was important that the pragmatic changes contained in the bill could be implemented as quickly as possible.
The bill is due to be debated in the Dáil this evening and tomorrow.
Among its measures are a ban on waiting lists and fees relating to admissions.
The bill also contains a requirement that schools publish their admissions policies, including details of provisions for pupils who decline to participate in religious instruction.
It also gives power to the National Council for Special Education and children's agency Tusla to oblige a school to enrol a child.
This power would be used in situations where a child has been unable to secure a school place.
IHREC has also criticised the current bill for not doing enough to protect the rights of students to be exempted from religious instruction and indoctrination in schools.
In its detailed submission the commission also recommends that the legislation should ban the so-called 'parent rule' as a criterion for admission.
The commission says this practice, whereby the children of past pupils are favoured over others, leads to the segregation of Traveller children, the children of immigrants and the children of people with disabilities, as these three groups are unlikely to have parents who attended second-level schools in their localities.
Mr Bruton has said that this matter will be dealt with under an amendment to be introduced at committee stage.
