A SETTLEMENT was reached at the High Court yesterday in a dispute between the Department of Education and four private Protestant schools over a teachers' redeployment scheme which the schools claimed adversely affected their right to choose who they employed.
No details of the settlement were disclosed in court.
The case opened on Tuesday but talks began on Wednesday between the sides and yesterday, following further discussions, Gerard Hogan SC, for the schools, told Mr Justice Bryan McMahon the parties had "resolved their differences".
Counsel said all that was necessary for the court to do was to make an order that the department pay the schools' costs and strike out the proceedings.
Mr Justice McMahon made the order sought, struck out the case and thanked the parties for resolving "a difficult matter".
In a brief statement afterwards on behalf of the schools, Drury Communications said they were satisfied with the settlement.
The schools had claimed the redeployment scheme introduced last year by the Minister for Education interfered with their autonomy and with the rights of parents to have their children educated according to their faith.
The action was brought by St Andrew's, Booterstown, a co-educational multi-denominational Presbyterian-founded school; Rathdown Girls School, Glenageary, one of only two all-girl Church of Ireland boarding schools in the country; Wesley College, the State's only Methodist second-level school based in Ballinteer; and St Patrick's Cathedral Grammar School, the only remaining Protestant secondary school in Dublin city centre.
They sought declarations that the scheme - introduced to redeploy "surplus" teachers from schools in areas of Dublin where the population was in decline - had breached their constitutional rights. They also sought orders directing the Minister to cease the scheme's operation and damages.
The Minister and the State had argued that the schools have to prove their denominational nature and ethos with regard to the selection and recruitment of teachers. It was also pleaded that the scheme was part of an agreement reached with the social partners.
The scheme, introduced last year, is implemented by a director of redeployment, who was appointed with the power to unilaterally assign a teacher, with his decisions binding on all parties.
The schools claimed the scheme was introduced without consultation or agreement with them, and said they had never accepted it.
They alleged it is unconstitutional and breaches the rights of parents to have their children educated according to their faith and the rights of school boards of management/governors to appoint teachers.
While the State pays the salaries of teachers it was the responsibility of boards of management to select and appoint teachers under the 1998 Education Act, the schools argued.
It was also claimed the refusal of the schools to take part in the scheme had meant they had to pay the salaries of any new teachers from their own resources, and the withholding of funding for these teachers was intended to punish them for their non-participation.