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

The Department's point, which is a fair one, is that until one has acceptances the position is unclear. I take Deputy Daly's point that people may be on a list who are within the admissions policy, while someone else cannot join or is in an inferior position. However, if those children at the higher position do not accept the places, they will then become available. That is why we will not really have clarity until the acceptances start to come through. That is because people will be in a lower category until those acceptances are clear. In addition, some children are on waiting lists for more than one school.

My Department is alert to the concerns of parents in this area. It is happening in other areas also and is a feature that occurs at this time when there is natural anxiety about getting into preferred schools or any school that is local and easily accessible.

I can assure the Deputies that the Department will continue to monitor this matter closely. I hope the information will become clearer when acceptances start to come through. The Department's case, that the 760 places are adequate to meet the needs, will also become clearer.

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