Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a new policy has been introduced by her Department whereby pupils are required to provide proof of their address before they are accepted for enrolment in national school; the reason parents wishing to enrol their children in a school (details supplied) in County Kildare are being requested to provide this information; and if the right of parents to enrol their children in the school of their choice has been removed. [38459/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The new school to which the Deputy refers was provided by my Department to meet the growing need for extra primary provision in the area in September, 2005.

When fully occupied, the school will operate as a two-stream 16-classroom school. To enable it develop in this manner, it can only enrol two junior infant classes annually. This incremental development is common to all newly established schools to ensure that a shortage of accommodation at the school is avoided by an over enrolment in the early stages and crucially, to ensure that the enrolments and staffing levels in other schools in the area, where older pupils would inevitably be drawn, are not adversely affected.

Notwithstanding this position and as an exceptional matter, the school has been given approval to enrol three junior infant classes for this school year on the grounds that this will not impact negatively on the other schools in question. While enrolment policies are a matter for school authorities, the Department expects the enrolment polices of individual schools to compliment the demand for pupil places in an area and, as in this case, to assist the growth of the new school in an orderly fashion. This is in the best interests of the schools, pupils and wider community alike.

Enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authority of those schools and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. This may result, however, in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of schools that are not in a position to admit all pupils seeking entry to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act. In this regard a board of management may find it necessary to restrict enrolment to children from a particular area or a particular age group or, occasionally, on the basis of some other criterion. In formulating an admissions policy a school must, however, ensure it is lawful. In particular, it must act in accordance with section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000.

Where a Board of Management refuses to enrol a student in a school, the parent of the student or, where the student has reached 18 years of age, the student himself or herself, following the conclusion of any appeal procedures at school level, has a statutory entitlement under section 29 of the Education Act to appeal that decision to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science. A committee is established to hear the appeal with hearings conducted with a minimum of formality. In most cases appeals must be dealt with within 30 days. Where appropriate, the Secretary General may give whatever directions to the Board of Management that are considered necessary to remedy the matter complained of.

Details on appealing decisions on enrolment under section 29 of the Education Act are available on my Department's website at

www.education.ie.