As part of the fallout of the 2009 Irish government budget, the minority Protestant population in the Republic were particularly incensed by cuts announced by the Minister for Education to grants previously available to the 21 Protestant denomination secondary schools which breached a 40-year-old agreement reached when free secondary education was introduced in the Republic by the then Minister for Education, Donogh O'Malley.Surprise flare-up at €3m cut to Protestant schools, Seán Flynn, Analysis, The Irish Times, 24 October 2009, retrieved 27 October 2009 Under that agreement, Protestant secondary schools which had to provide a boarding element (and therefore charge fees) to provide education for the widespread but sparse Protestant population were treated in the same manner as "free" Roman Catholic schools. The Protestant community in return accepted that they could not expect the State to provide a "free" secondary school in every locality, and that they would have to pay a level of fees to educate their children. It was planned that Protestant churches through their administration of the grants provided by the Department would ensure that those least able to pay fees are assisted to the greatest extent possible.
