Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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187. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will advocate with the principal for a student (details supplied) to be accepted for admission to the school. [23382/24]

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 admissions policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. Under the provisions of the Act, school admission policies are approved by the Patron, following consultation with staff and parents of children who are attending the school. The school’s admissions policy is published on the school’s website. 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. This applies to applications for the intake year and applications for admission to all other years. 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.

It is up to each individual school to decide the subjects they offer, for example under Junior Cycle, the schools decide the subject and short course mix for their own students giving them the flexibility to meet their students’ needs, in the most appropriate way. A school can decide to designate a given subject as one of the subjects to be provided.

Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal where a board of management, or a person acting on behalf of the board of management (normally the school principal) refuses to admit a student to a school. Where the decision to refuse admission is due to the school being oversubscribed, a review of the decision by the board of management must be sought in the first instance. Following a review it is open to the parent to appeal to the independent appeals committee.

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is the agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. TESS can be contacted at 01-7718500 (tessinfo@tusla.ie) for assistance. More information is available on their website on the following link: www.tusla.ie/tess/tess-ews/.