Ms Helen Walsh:

What we can definitely say at this point is that most schools are running through the final numbers in terms of offering places. We are all aware of the systemic issues, in that when a school offers a place a parent has some time to respond, and that parent may take that time as it is his or her right to do in order to consider the right place for the child. That has a knock-on effect for the next parent on the list. We will not call it a delay but there is a natural process there with regard to time.

There are no issues with schools that are actively enrolling students because we know they are doing their work and getting on with it. As Mr. Kearney noted, we are working very thoroughly with the small number of schools that have not completed or even commenced enrolment. The NCSE does not want children to be outside schools. We do not want schools closing before admissions commence and we do not want parents waiting until August until they receive an offer of a place. Our SENOs are working intensively with schools to try to encourage that. We also have access to waiting lists, so we can see the children who are likely to be offered places. We are cross-referencing those waiting lists to ensure we know there is a security for each child. The process Mr. Kearney referenced is precisely that - schools with different admissions times running processes simultaneously or one after the other. Schools, for the most part, have worked intensively with us to do this.