Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department.My Department is aware of pressures for school places for the 2024/25 school year in North Kildare.

A critical next step for my Department is to establish the actual number of additional school places required for 2024 in order for an appropriate solution to be put in place. In that context, schools in a number of areas of enrolment pressure, including North Kildare, have been requested to share data on applications for admissions. This data has been received by my officials and is currently being analysed with a view to establishing the actual requirement for places. Preliminary assessments indicate that duplications of applications, and applications from outside the local area, are very much contributing to enrolment pressures in North Kildare.

My Department is working to clarify the actual requirement for additional school places and to identify particular further capacity requirements for 2024 and forthcoming years. My Department will engage with schools and patrons to put any required solutions in place - beyond those that are already in train - to ensure sufficient school places to meet the needs of students in the area.

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. 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.

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.

The Department does not seek to intervene in the selection criterion that is applied by schools.Where a board of management make a decision to refuse admission, a parent/guardian can appeal that decision under Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998, and an independent appeals committee will be appointed to consider the appeal. The role of the Section 29 hearing committee is to examine the application for enrolment and consider if it was correctly processed by the school, in accordance with the school’s Enrolment Policy.This Department has no authority to compel a school to admit a student, except in circumstances where an appeal under Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 has been allowed and the appeals committee directs that the school admit the child concerned.

As you are aware, section 29 of the Education Act, 2008, as amended by Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018, provides for a paper based appeal to be considered by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education, in circumstances where a parent has been refused enrolment due to oversubscription.My Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across school planning areas through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities.This close engagement will allow my Department to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.

The Educational Welfare Services (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the statutory agency that can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The local service is delivered through the national network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWO). Contact details are available at www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/education-and-welfare/.