Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to commence section 10 of the Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Act 2004. [45515/17]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide special needs education co-ordinator power to designate a secondary school place for a person with special educational needs. [45516/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 98 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the issue of the providing power to the National Council for Special Education, as envisaged under Section 10 of the Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Act, to designate a school place for a person with special educational needs, is currently being considered in the context of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 is an important piece of legislation which strives to create a new more parent-friendly, equitable and consistent approach to how school admissions policy operates for the almost 4,000 primary and post-primary schools in this country.

The Bill will:

oblige all schools to admit pupils where there are available places. It is important to note that 80% of schools are not oversubscribed;

include a specific requirement that school enrolment policies must include details of the school's arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction;

prohibit the charging of fees or seeking payment or contributions for an application for admission to a school or for the enrolment or continued enrolment of a student in a school;

allow the NCSE and the Child and Family Agency to designate a place for a child in a school;

provide for schools to explicitly state in the school's admission policy that it will not discriminate against an applicant for admission on the grounds of disability, special educational needs, sexual orientation, family status, membership of the traveller community, race, civil status, gender or religion while including provision for single sex schools and denominational schools to reflect, in their admission policy, the exemptions applicable to such schools under equality legislation.

The Bill provides an over-arching framework for greater transparency and consistency in school enrolment generally and thereby gives greater confidence to parents that the admission criteria laid down by schools and the procedures used by them are legitimate, reasonable and fair.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 was published on 6th July 2016. The Bill passed committee stage on 28th June 2017 and is due to progress to report stage shortly.