James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the grounds on which it is morally or legally right for a child (details supplied) in County Longford to be refused entry to three national schools and to be left without a junior infant place to enable them to start their education with other children in 2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22174/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Education Act, 1998 requires all schools to have in place an admissions policy, detailing admission to and participation by students with disabilities or who have other special educational needs. The Act also requires schools to ensure that as regards that policy the principles of equality and the right of parents to send their children to a school of the parents choice are respected.

The Act also empowers parents to pursue their rights and the rights of their children to fair and equal treatment when seeking enrolment in a school. With regard to parents who feel that their child has unjustly been refused a school place, they may appeal the school's decision to the Secretary General of the Department under section 29 of the Education Act 1998. Such appeals are dealt with within 30 days of their receipt and, where an appeal is upheld, the Secretary General is empowered to direct the school to enrol the student.

My Department has been in contact with the National Educational Welfare Board and with the Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers to determine the circumstances of the case referred to by the Deputy.

My Department has been informed that the EWO and VTT have, over the past few weeks, been in regular contact with the family of the child referred to by the Deputy and that the difficulty being experienced by the family arises from a very late application, in August, to one of the schools mentioned by the Deputy. Both the EWO and the VTT will continue to advise and assist the child's parents in relation to schools in the area and the appropriate manner of applying for a school place. The parents have also been informed of their right to appeal, under section 29 of the Education Act 1998, any decision by a school to refuse enrolment.