Comments on: Bishops and Backhanders

By: Joyce

Joyce — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:41:47 +0000

Reading the post no 11, the solution is simple -hire, build other buildings – why havent the powerful teaching unions and the Teacher/Politicians/ Ministers such as Dempsey, Michael Martin, Mary Hannafin, Mary O Rourke, Batt O Keffee etc gone ahead and done that ? It can hardly be fear of the Bishops – after all we have had a Taoiseach who lived with his girlfriend and not his wife !

By: norma

norma — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:00:09 +0000

Whats really great is that you are putting all of this out here ! I thought I had looked at the Church and Education from every angle, I never knew about the Insurance angle.
Information is key to progress.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:15:32 +0000

I thought the ntion that clergy dont get laid had been laid to rest by Bishop Eamon Casey and Fr Michael Cleary ?

By: Nevie

Nevie — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:06:19 +0000

Arrrrgggghhhhhh…. theres just no end to their deceitfulness. Just when you think they've done it all! why are these fuckers still in charge of the schools? In fairness, we're taking it up the ass constantly! These people are heading our education when their leader can spout incitement to hatred from his pulpit! I'm off to live in a fucking tree, but being "gods creation" they'll be looking for fire insurance!

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:40:11 +0000

In a certain school, many years ago, water damage ruined the floor of a classroom. An insurance claim was made. The floor was never repaired. No-one ever asked where the money went. No-one dared disturb the sound of silence.

By: Mairead

Mairead — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:37:03 +0000

It is indeed.
Own the building and you "own" all that's in it – including thoughts and futures!
Is this what we want for our education system in 2010?

By: Bock

Bock — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:28:08 +0000

That's the point. They own the buildings, which were often built by the taxpayer, but a school is more than a building.

By: Mairead

Mairead — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:25:03 +0000

In the majority of cases, the church has the title of the land and the school, and are the legal owners.
However, the land was usually donated free and the schools were built by locals long ago and by the state later i.e. very little cost to the church, but huge rewards today.

By: Bock

Bock — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:58:23 +0000

We accept too casually the idea that the church owns the schools.

They don't provide the teachers.
They don't provide the curriculum.
They don't provide the teaching materials.
They don't provide the books.
They don't provide the heating or the lighting.
They don't provide the running water.
They don't provide the maintenance.

All they own is the building, and in an age when buildings have become exceedingly cheap, that isn't very much.

The church are the landlords and nothing more, yet, for no obvious reason, we put them in charge of the whole school.

The price of the rent is far too high for the value we get in return.

By: Mairead

Mairead — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:48:36 +0000

I don't have a clue about backhanders, but it was always the case that primary schools had to use the Catholic Church's chosen insurance company.
I don't know about secondary and third level institutions, but in the primary sector (almost 4,000 schools), all insurances were taken out with the same insurance company that the Church used themselves.
Schools did not have a choice.
Until quite recently there was only one, I think there are two now.
It is true that if a school wants to move from one company to the other, then they need to ask the Patron (the Bishop in most cases) for permission, or at least inform him, first.
I hadn't really thought that much about it, but it sounds like it might be "stifling" competition alright.
Is that allowed?

I don't know why anyone is surprised at this arrangement though… the Catholic Church runs our primary schools.
Didn't you know that?
It makes sense for them to use the same, trusted company to insure their churches, palaces, priests, land, cars and their schools. Yes, I said "their" schools. The Catholic Church owns about 96% (guess) of our schools.
Didn't you know that?

It doesn't make quite as much sense though that the tax payer pays the insurance premium, not the Catholic Church.
There's nothing wrong with the Catholic Church owning and running their own schools.
The problems are:
- The tax payer foots the bill for these privately owned schools.
- The tax payer has no choice (for the most part) but to send their child to a denominational school, even if they don't want this type of education for their child.
That's just wrong.