23 primary schools across the country will be stripped of their Catholic Church patronage. It follows surveys of parents in 38 areas by the Department of Education.

It is part of the drive to provide plurality and choice in the types of primary schools in Ireland.

The Department estimates that some 96% of primary schools here are owned and under the patronage of religious denominations and approximately 90% of these schools are owned and under the patronage of the Catholic Church.

In 2011 the Minister for Education established an expert group to consult with people and to make recommendations on how primary schools can become more inclusive of different traditions, religions and beliefs.

In April 2012 the Minister Ruairí Quinn accepted and published the Report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector.

6 month window for proposals

In June last year he started the process to look at the possible transfer of some schools run by the Catholic Church to other school patron bodies in 44 areas around the country.

Of those 23 signalled a demand for change and the Catholic management of each of the schools will be given 6 months to provide proposals on how they plan to divest them.

Katherine Donnelly is education editor with the Irish Independent.

She told Breakfast here on Newstalk that the changing cultural landscape in Ireland over the last 15 years helped push the issue of divestment to the top of the education agenda.