Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

General Scheme of Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013: Discussion

3:00 pm

Mr. Hubert Loftus:

I wish to add to what Mr. Hanevy has said. The greater level of information for the applicant the better. When applying for enrolment the applicant will know the criteria, will be self-declaring and provide evidence that they meet the criteria. Then the school principal will - I do not see it as a major decision - verify whether an application meets the criteria and if there are errors the board of management will act as the appeals process. We are talking here about a fourth layer above that again. If there is confidence that the process is done right and it is very transparent and clear, then we think that it is very workable and better than the current flawed section 29 process.