Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 310: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare will be offered a school placement at CBS, Naas, County Kildare, for the academic year commencing September 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20185/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Enrolment decisions are the responsibility of the board of management of each individual school. My Department has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment by schools.

Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, provides parents with an appeal process where a board of management of a school or a person acting on behalf of the board refuses enrolment to a student. Where a school refuses to enrol a pupil, the school is obliged to inform parents of their right under section 29 of Education Act 1998 to appeal that decision to the Secretary General of my Department. Where an appeal under section 29 is upheld, the Secretary General of my Department may direct a school to enrol a pupil.

The National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB can be contacted at National Educational Welfare Board national headquarters at 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7, or by telephone at 01-8738700.