Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The communications will be conducted through the NCSE and is very much a part of its budget. Work is already under way. A key role of the SENOs is to engage with schools to make sure that principals and teachers know about the new deadline. Obviously, that communication will follow through from the schools to any parents who are thinking of enrolling their child. There is also an onus on all of us, as public representatives, to communicate with our constituents and to highlight not only that we have a new deadline but that there is a deadline, full stop. Already this year there were parents who were late registering because they simply did not know about it.

It is new this year so one expects that to happen. As the years go on, we want this to be just a part of the education system and in the same way parents know when they are enrolling their children and when teacher and SNA allocations are made, parents will know they have to do this by a certain deadline. There will be a communications plan as part of the overall budget for the NCSE. The NCSE's budget has increased by approximately €13 million. There is space within that budget for communications.