Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

Deputy Jim Daly came to see me on more than one occasion to talk through his emerging concept and ask us where policy development was at in this regard. We had that discussion a couple of months ago. As it stands, we already have an Ombudsman for Children. Deputy Daly's proposal, as far as I understand it, is made up of two parts. The first is that he sees an ombudsman for education being active in giving policy advice. The second function he envisages is not so much an ombudsman function as an appeals board function to allow for the making of determining decisions, which ombudsmen typically do not do. We talked through those concepts with the Deputy, as I said.

The Government is advancing the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2015 but, as the Minister indicated earlier this week, it is highly unlikely that it will be passed before the end of the current Oireachtas term. In the admissions area, we wish to put in place enhanced regulation both in terms of the time applications are made to schools, which would provide clarity for everybody, and in respect of what might or might not be included in enrolment policy. That, in essence, is what is involved in the legislation. The Minister has signalled her view that there is a need to review the Equal Status Act provisions around denominational education. The Bill has been published but not discussed in the Houses, so it is technically on First Stage. The Minister has indicated that it was her intention to introduce amendments to provide for a parents' and students' charter, which, together with the new arrangements around enrolment, should remove enrolment to a significant extent from any necessary appeals mechanisms.

We would like to advance those initiatives and analyse their impact without putting a straight appeals mechanism in place which would have a determining say in schools' enrolment policies. That is the issue we are focusing on in our emerging discussion with Deputy Daly. We hope the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill will be taken in the next Oireachtas, in which case there will be further opportunities to consider the concept Deputy Daly has proposed.