Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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241. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide guidance for residents of a development in an area (details supplied) with regard to applications for enrolment to schools where the development does not fall into any catchment area for enrolment purposes, and as a result, children are refused admission to schools on that basis. [6044/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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According to my Department's Geographical Information System, the address referred to is in the Lucan School Planning Area. There are 19 primary schools and 8 post-primary schools in the Lucan school planning area. 

The Education Act requires that I as the Minister for Education, as a function, to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education in recognised schools and to do all such acts and things as may be necessary to further the objects of the Act.  The Act also bestows on the Minister all such powers as are necessary or expedient for the purpose of performing functions.

The question of enrolment in individual schools, including the setting of catchment areas, is the responsibility of the Board of Management on behalf of the school Patron and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data in a way that takes account of the significant local and regional variations in demographic trends and enrolment projections, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas.

In most areas, school planning areas were based on traditional school catchment areas where all primary schools were assigned to a post-primary feeder area (typically a population centre or town), containing one or more post-primary schools. 

The school planning areas were developed for use with my Department’s Geographic Information System (GIS) in 2008 and with the introduction of Small Areas in Census 2011, these areas were amended to align with Census Small Areas. The current school planning areas take account not only of local groupings of schools, but also of natural boundaries, Census Small Areas and other local conditions.

The school planning areas provide a useful means of projecting demographic demand in a localised area or areas, thereby allowing my Department to determine oncoming growth at a relatively localised level to inform recommendations and decisions on where additional school places may be needed.

However, there can be a high degree of inward and outward mobility of children between school planning areas, particularly in urban areas, and parents are free to apply to enrol their children in any school, whether that is in the school planning area in which they reside or not.

As stated above it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.  My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process may 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.

Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department, or in the case of an Educational Training Board (ETB) school to the ETB in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school.

Further information on the Section 29 appeals process is available on my Department's website www.education.e. The Education Welfare Service (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The EWS can be contacted at 01-7718500.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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242. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details of each school in each of the Wicklow school planning areas, national and secondary; the capacity of each school; the current enrolment figures for each school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6045/23]

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.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available 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.  Some schools may apply a catchment area as one of their selection criteria.  The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves. My Department does not seek to intervene in the selection criterion that is applied by schools.

The Enrolment Data for each school requested is supplied in the tables below:

Primary:

Post Primary

www.gov.ie/en/collection/63363b-data-on-individual-schools/