Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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171. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will facilitate an arrangement to facilitate the admission to Maynooth post-primary school of the three children of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, all of whom have special needs and who have been refused admission due to the admissions structure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46651/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The selection and enrolment of pupils in schools is the responsibility of the authorities of the individual school. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in an area. However, this may result in some pupils' not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. As schools may not have a place for every applicant, a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory, and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants.

Under section 15(2)(d) of the Education Act, 1998, each school is legally obliged to disclose its enrolment policy and to ensure that, as regards that policy, principles of equality and the right of parents to send their children to a school of the parents' choice are respected.

Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department or, in the case of an Education and Training Board (ETB) school, to the ETB in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student, or suspends a student for 20 or more days in any school year. My Department has no authority to compel a school to admit a pupil, except in the case of an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 being upheld.

The Educational Welfare Service (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The EWS may be able to offer assistance and advice on securing a school placement within the pupil's home area. The contact details for the EWS is Educational Welfare Services, Block 3, South Dublin County Council, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Phone 01 4635513.

My Department provides for a range of placement options for pupils with special educational needs in order to ensure that all pupils can receive a school placement. Many pupils with special educational needs will be able to attend a local mainstream school whereas, for pupils who have needs which require more specialist interventions, special class and special school placements are provided for.

In addition, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) can assist parents to identify appropriate educational placements for children with special educational needs. Parents may contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs and to seek assistance in identifying placement options, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

The NCSE also recently published a Guide for Parents and Guardians of Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs on Choosing a School. This guide is also available at www.ncse.ie.

As the Deputy is aware, the Government gave approval in March of this year for drafting the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2014, and drafting by the Attorney General is currently underway. The aim of bringing forward legislative proposals in relation to school admission is to improve the admissions process, and to ensure that the way schools decide on applications is structured, fair and transparent.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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172. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if extra special needs teaching hours may be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46662/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that all schools receive an allocation of additional teaching resources to support children who have mild general learning difficulties or learning support needs under the General Allocation Model in primary schools, or through Learning Support and Resource Teaching allocations at post primary schools.

Schools are given guidance on how to identify pupils for learning support in my Departments Circulars 02/05 and 70/2014.

In addition, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocates additional resource teaching hours to schools for children who have been assessed within the low incidence, or more complex, category of special need, as defined by my Department's Circular Sp Ed 02/05. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special Education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.

It is a matter for schools to then monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with my Department's guidance. The teaching time afforded to each individual pupil is decided and managed by schools, taking into account each child's individual learning needs.

Schools have capacity to allocate resource teaching or learning support hours to pupils who have additional learning needs arising from medical conditions, from within their General Allocation Model hours.

A parent who feels that their child requires additional learning support in school should raise this matter directly with their school Principal in the first instance, or with the Board of Management of the school.