Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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1054. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if support will be provided to a parent trying to find a school place for their 16-year-old child (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41436/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 of mine.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €217 million in our schools throughout Co. Galway under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of 84 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision has approved €210m supplementary capital funding for my department which brings the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

Primary school enrolments at national level have been in decline for a number of years and this downward demographic trend is also now apparent at first year post primary level. There are, however continued pressures in some areas where there is high demand with continued population growth and housing development driving the need for additional school places.

In that context my Department has put in place a number of measures to support post-primary schools in managing and coordinating their admissions processes including enhancements to the IT systems for registering enrolments so that duplicate acceptances of admission offers are effectively known in real-time at school level, and continuing the data-sharing arrangements with schools in areas of enrolment pressure. The sharing of this data has been very effective in the identification and addressing of school place requirements. The Department’s priority is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, meet local school place requirements.

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.

In order to assist with the enrolment of children without a school place, the Department shares information on available capacity with the Tusla's Education Welfare Service. The Educational Welfare Services 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. Contact details are available on Tusla’s website.