Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy may be aware that the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 provided for the replacement of section 29 of the Education Act 1998 with sections 29A to 29F.

Under the new arrangements for appeals taken in respect of refusal to admit due to the school being oversubscribed, the appeals committee conduct a paper based examination of all such appeals. Prior to these appeals being lodged the appellant must first seek a review by the schools board of management of their application for enrolment, which allows the school to consider if any error occurred in the schools processing of the enrolment application. When the appeals committee has considered these paper based appeals the outcome is to allow or disallow the appeal. Where appeals under this category are allowed a direction is given to the school to admit the student or adjust the ranking of the student on the waiting list as appropriate.

As the Deputy can understand I can’t comment on a specific case however, I have asked my officials to contact the person who made the appeal to provide them with an update on the status of the appeal.

Tusla Education Support Services (TESS), the Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency, is the legal body which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty or may require assistance in securing a school placement for their child. Contact details for TESS are available at the following link or by email at tessinfo@tusla.ie