Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 65 already provides that the Minister may direct two or more schools to co-operate with each other in the admission processes of the schools concerned. I will move an amendment today to this section which will allow schools, for the purposes of facilitating the efficient admission of students, to share information with each other in respect of applications received, offers made and offers accepted. We earlier dealt with an amendment requiring a parent to provide that information to the school. I am satisfied that the existing provision in the Bill, which will be strengthened by my amendment enabling information sharing, would allow a Minister to direct schools to co-ordinate their processes in the manner proposed by the Deputy. I therefore consider that the amendment is unnecessary.

Amendment No. 89 provides that a board may share information about applications for admission with another board or patron. Boards may share a list of students in respect of whom an application for admission has been received and an offer of admission has been made or accepted. Such a list may include a student’s personal details, including the student’s name, address, date of birth and public service number. The introduction of this provision seeks to address the practice of parents making applications or accepting offers for multiple schools and should make the enrolment process more effective and efficient for both schools and applicants.