Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1047. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a child (details supplied) is being refused a place in a national school when their two siblings are already enrolled in the school; the alternatives that are available, including school transport; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30636/22]

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 are required to have drafted new admissions policies, which have been approved by the patron, following consultation with staff and parents of children who are attending the school. The newly revised school’s admissions policy is published on the schools website. It is a key requirement of the act that all school admission policies are fair and transparent. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available for the relevant year, the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process will 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.

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. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves. Schools can use age as a selection criterion should they wish to do so. It is an important feature of the act that schools can only make a decision on an application for admission that is based on the schools admission policy.

The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. In cases where my Department is satisfied that the nearest school is full, eligibility for the School Transport Scheme will be determined based on the distance that children reside from their next nearest school having regard to ethos and language. To establish that the nearest school is full parents/guardians must provide certain documentary evidence including confirmation that an application for enrolment in the nearest school was made within the deadline dates specified by the school and confirmation from the school authorities that the school was full.

Consistent with primary level national enrolments which peaked in 2018, records available to my Department indicate that the school referred to by the Deputy has also experienced a decreased enrolment in recent years. My Department’s demographic projections indicate a continuing decline in primary school enrolments of over 120,000 by 2033. Although these projections do not account for arriving Ukrainian students, it is clear that at a national level there will be increasing levels of capacity within our existing schools infrastructure. While local and regional variations will, of course, be relevant, the use of such capacity - to meet the needs of Ukrainian children in the first instance - will be an important element in my Department’s strategic planning for capital investment in our schools.

My Department already has a large pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme to cater for current and future educational demands. The pipeline of projects is kept under continual review to ensure alignment with Project Ireland 2040 objectives. Good progress continues to be made with the rollout of projects, and the current status of projects being delivered is listed in tabular format, on a county by county basis, on the Department’s website at www.gov.ie and is regularly updated. Specifically, in the Ballinasloe School Planning Area, there is a new school planned for Scoil an Chroi Naofa and the brief for this has been revised to cater for a principal and 16 mainstream classrooms to cater for future demand in the area.