Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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190. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is aware that enrolments in a school (details supplied) are being blocked by the school; if he is complicit in the campaign to close the biggest school in the area at a time when number of primary school age children is predicted by the CSO to rise by 20%; and his plans for a new school in the area to cope with the increasing numbers. [14553/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The enrolment policy must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. Parents can choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available 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. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

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 Educational 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.

The Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency (EWS) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The EWS can be contacted at 01-8738700.

My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. My Department uses a Geographical Information System to identify the areas under increased demographic pressure nationwide. The system uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and information from the Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and at post-primary level. In relation to the area referred to by the Deputy, I can advise that my Department has no plans to establish a new school in the area.

In 2015, the Department agreed to a request from the Patron for a change to fully vertical co-educational status for three other schools in the area in question. The Patron indicated that there was no demand for a change in status from the school referred to by the Deputy. The Patron also indicated that the trend of declining enrolments in the area will be kept under review. The decision by the Patron to reorganise the primary schools in the parish in question first arose in 2009 because of concerns at local level regarding declining enrolments.