Protestant churches are being denied their rights in plans to overhaul Northern Ireland's education system, religious representatives claimed today.

Not allowing Protestant ministers an automatic position on proposed ownership bodies for state controlled schools while granting them to Catholic churchmen on equivalent bodies for the Catholic maintained sector is a grave injustice, according to the Transferor Representatives' Council (TRC).

Members of the council, which represents the interests of Protestant churches in the education system, said elements of Education Minister Caitriona Ruane's blueprint for reform did not provide them parity of esteem with the Catholic community.

Under one of the minister's proposals, ownership bodies would manage the school estates of each educational sector, working as part of the new all-encompassing delivery body - The Educational Skills Authority - when it is established next year.

But while Catholic trustees would have a guaranteed place on the body for Catholic schools, TRC representatives would only get onto the body for the controlled sector if they apply and are appointed.

The TRC claim this takes away the statutory role they have on the current education boards, which are being replaced by the ESA.

"That seems to us to be a serious injustice and a denial of rights that were given to us," Rev Ian Ellis from the TRC told Stormont's education committee.

"But it's more than that there, it's about parity of esteem as well, because the way that works out for the other sectors. For example, our Catholic colleagues will continue to have a place by right on an ownership body, they will continue to have decision-making powers regarding planning of their schools estate, and yet the Protestant churches will no longer have a role by right in any decision making regarding the controlled schools estate.

"So there seems to be a huge injustice and disparity about decision making and the rights of the Protestant community and that's a very strong point we want to make."

The reason for the distinction, according to the department, is linked to the fact that Catholic churches remain the official owners of schools in their sector while Protestants churches handed over control of schools they established to the state in the early 20th century.

Officials claim that as the controlled sector is state-owned it is subject to certain equality legislation that would make it impossible to give Protestant ministers an automatic right to sit on the bodies.

Chris Stewart from the department told the committee that while the TRC could not have guaranteed places on the ownership body, it would be granted the right to representation on the other body proposed by the minister - the representative body.

He claimed that would have far more influence in determining the religious ethos of schools than the ownership body.

But Reverend Trevor Gribben from the TRC said that equality legislation should not be applied to only one sector.

"The concept that the controlled sector cannot have representation from the transferring churches because of equality legislation when other churches are represented clearly on other sectors to us is totally illogical," he said.

"There is a 100% publicly funded school system in Northern Ireland and therefore for us equality legislation should be applied across that system as a whole. Bluntly, and in crude terms, if one community is represented in one sector it is equal for another community to be represented in the other sector if you look at the education system as a whole, and that is equality."

Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd (Upper Bann) said the Catholic church's rights as owners had to be recognised.

"Politics in this society is often driven by 'one side has it then the other side have to have it'," he said.

"But in this situation the reality of the matter is the Catholic church own their schools and unless the Catholic church give up the ownership of their schools or the state nationalises their schools then that reality will remain.

"So the ownership body of the Catholic schools sector is based on that legal basis, it's a legal basis rather than a concession or an advantage to one side. It's a legal basis - they own their schools so they naturally would be the ownership body."

But fellow committee member Basil McCrea (Ulster Unionist, Lagan Valley) said the imbalance had to be addressed.

"It is fundamentally unfair if the Roman Catholic church has got certain rights and the Protestant churches do not," he said.

"I don't care whether there's a historic basis or legal basis or any sort of other basis, it just isn't right. I actually think it's a question of morals. I just put it on the record now that any fudge that comes through this that does not address this imbalance will be fundamentally unacceptable to society."