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Northern Ireland: Integrated Schools

My Lords, I have been a friend and supporter of integrated education in Northern Ireland since well before the days when Lagan College opened with 28 pupils in a borrowed Scout hall. I intervene because I have seen it stated in print that Northern Ireland now has 50,000 spare school places. If that figure is anything like correct—it has been confirmed in the debate by the noble Lords, Lord Parekh and Lord Dubs—it is remarkably large for a region with only 1,600,000 people. That point was also touched on by the noble Baroness, Lady David. Can the Minister tell us what plans the Northern Ireland government have for making the best possible use of those vacant places so as to comply with the stated wishes of so many parents? Surely those vacancies give scope for reorganisations that would allow new integrated schools to open in existing school buildings or at the very least in the wings or sections of existing schools. The noble Baroness, Lady Blood, pointed out correctly that more was needed than shared campuses used by segregated schools. Enabling new integrated schools to start would not only please parents who opt for integrated education only to find that all the places in the existing 58 schools have been allocated, it would remove many suspicions and fears that arise as young people grow up in segregated schools, where pupils often have no friends of the other sort. Finally, it would enable parents and staff to co-operate in many ways, thus doing something useful to bring together a deeply divided society.