Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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588. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether there is merit in amending the Education Act 1998 to give the Minister powers to designate areas in which centrally operated, State-administered school enrolment system could operate as suggested by a person (details supplied). [28502/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill was published on 6 July 2016 and will shortly proceed to Committee Stage. Publication of the Bill reflects the commitment in the Programme for Government 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.

The Bill proposes to amend the Education 1998 to provide an over-arching framework for greater transparency and fairness in school enrolment generally and thereby give greater confidence to parents that the admission criteria laid down by schools and the procedures used by them are legitimate, reasonable and fair.

The provisions of the Bill should make it easier for parents to more easily access local schools and to enrol their children in a school that meets their needs.

The Bill will require schools to be fair and transparent in deciding how to prioritise children for admission to the school.

Section 65 of the Bill provides for the Minister to direct schools to cooperate with other in relation to the admission processes of the schools concerned.