Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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216. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the rights of students to attend a school in their catchment area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37450/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area.

Under the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, all schools have drafted new school admission policies, which have been approved by the school patron and published on the school websites.

The act requires schools to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. Schools have discretion in relation to their admission criteria and how they are applied, giving a priority to a certain catchment area is permitted as a criterion under the act, and schools can apply this as a criterion should they wish to do so.  The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves. However in some cases there may be more applicants than places available. In such circumstances a selection process may be necessary and some applicants may not receive a place of their first choice.

New schools established since 2011 to meet demographic demand are required, in the first instance, to prioritise pupil applications from within the designated school planning area(s) which the school was established to serve.  This does not preclude schools from enrolling pupils from outside of the school planning area where they have sufficient places, rather it reflects the need to accommodate in the first instance the demographic for which the school was established.

The requirement on new schools established since 2011 to prioritise enrolment from a particular school planning area(s) does not apply to or impact on the majority of existing schools established prior to 2011.