Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who will be five years of age or older on 1 September 2016 who have been refused a junior infants primary school place in Ashbourne, County Meath in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17384/16]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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122. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts he will make to ensure a person (details supplied) in County Meath will be allocated a junior infants primary school place in Ashbourne, County Meath in September 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17385/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 122 together.

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. I can advise the Deputy that, in relation to primary school enrolment in Ashbourne, my Department is currently reviewing enrolment demand at Junior Infant level for September 2016 and is engaging with schools in the area in this context.

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. Schools are not required to report to my Department on the number of applicants who are refused enrolment. It is important to note however that only 20% of schools are oversubscribed.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to publish new School Admissions legislation taking account of current draft proposals and addressing issues including publication of school enrolment policies, an end to waiting lists, introduction of annual enrolment structures, and transparency and fairness in admissions for pupils and their parents.

I have commenced a process of consultation with opposition parties to discuss my proposals to introduce a new Admissions Bill to make the process of enrolling children in school easier for parents.

Following these consultations, it is my intention to publish a new Admissions Bill during the current Dáil session. The new Bill will oblige all schools to admit pupils where there are available places.

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. Further information on the Section 29 appeals process is available on the Department's website www.education.ie.

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 01-7718500.