Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the Bill. I have been involved in schools for many years. People have lost out on places or have not been able to get a place because a school is oversubscribed. The Bill is very open and transparent. I highlighted two phrases in the Minister's speech, "transparency" and "fairness". The Bill is very much geared towards those terms.

Many schools have been oversubscribed while others have been undersubscribed. People end up getting places in schools which are not on their doorstep. The Bill will be very helpful in addressing that issue. I note that the Bill requires that everyone applies on the same day for primary school places. In the past people were putting down their children's names just after they had been born and waiting lists were formed. I know of a family where the main breadwinner's job was moved. The family had five or six children, but could not get places in a local school and instead ended up in a school on the other side of town, which did not help them to settle in the area. The allocation of places as set out in the Bill will be good in dealing with such situations in that there is fairness for everybody.

I have sat on many section 29 boards in secondary schools. People often raise section 29 appeals for valid reasons, which are important to them. While in many cases boards have made rulings in respect of appeals, the Bill's proposal is a fairer way to deal with appeals where people feel they have not been accepted. The term "minority" is to the forefront of the Bill. People from minority religions felt they did not get into schools because they were predominantly Catholic schools or whatever. The fact that religion is, in most cases, being left out of the process creates a fairer applications and acceptance process for everybody.

Most schools being built nowadays have an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit. I visited a new Educate Together school which was recently built in Limerick. The ASD unit there is second to none. The school experienced an increase in the number of application for admissions to the unit. The Minister has recognised that there is a need to provide such education in some areas where schools are not in a position to do so at present. Schools can be instructed to accept applications from people who need places, which is very helpful. The Minister will have the power to intervene when necessary. In some cases schools may say there are resource issues or may provide different reasons for not taking a pupil but it is good that the Minister can intervene as an independent person. It is very important that the Minister be given such powers.

People send their children to Irish-speaking primary schools but are then unable to access second level education. It is very important that priority be given to such children. The Minister intends to bring proposals forward to address this on Committee Stage. If somebody attends an Irish-speaking primary school it is very important that he or she has the right to continue his or her education as Gaeilge. Sometimes it boils down to school places or the admissions policies of schools, which will only take a certain number of pupils who speak Irish and then offer a certain number of places to schools which teach through English. I am on the board of management of a Gaelcholáiste and I understand 80% of our student intake is from Irish-speaking schools, but there are 12 such schools in the area from which children apply for entry. The Minister needs to examine the issue carefully when drafting proposals on Committee Stage.

The Bill will also help people who feel they might be discriminated against because of their race, background or whatever. The Bill will provide fairness for everybody. Education is all about setting people up and educating them for the future. The level of education children receive in school is about setting them up for the future, job planning and so on. It starts at a very young age. It is very important that people do not feel discriminated against and that there is fairness for everybody. As I said, that is addressed in the Bill.

In the past some people felt they were discriminated against because of where they came from, they were part of an ethnic minority or schools were not inclusive. The Bill will address situations where people feel they are in a minority and are not receiving the same level of education as everybody else. I compliment the Minister and wish the Bill a very safe passage through the House. It is very important that we try to pull together in order to reach a successful conclusion sooner rather than later.