Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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247. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures in place to stop an individual, or group of individuals, from undertaking the Primary School Survey multiple times by inserting a different Eircode each time; and the systems in place to prevent a group of ideologically motivated individuals from skewing the survey. [62298/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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248. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of the flaws in the Primary School Survey (details supplied). [62299/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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249. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she aware that the framing of a survey question can significantly change the answer that will be given by the person completing the survey (details supplied). [62300/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 247, 248 and 249 together.

On 4 November 2025, I announced a major step in expanding parental choice in education, with the launch of an online, school-specific survey of parents, guardians and primary school communities. This is the first time that a national survey of this scale is being undertaken. The survey will ensure that my department has a greater picture of parental choice on a number of important matters to enable the department to plan into the future.

My department’s Statistics Section, led by a Senior Statistician on secondment from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), oversaw the development of the survey instrument. The survey has been designed to be short and as simple as possible to complete to facilitate good response rates. The survey has been peer reviewed by the CSO who has confirmed that ‘the goal of the survey is very clear, and the instrument suitably straightforward and responsive’.

The survey instrument has been designed to be simple, straight-forward and user friendly. Best practice has been taken into account in respect of the use of plain English on the wording of the survey instrument, the letters to parents and guardians and schools and the web resources and the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) were engaged in this regard.

The position with regard to the specific questions raised by the Deputy is as follows.

The inclusion, or otherwise, of a “no preference” option was carefully considered. While this option would usually be given for the purposes of reporting on response rates, in this instance the most critical data from school communities is their preference for a change to take place or not (for example, from a single-sex school to a co-educational school, from a denominational school to a multi-denominational school, from a school which provides education primarily through English to a school which provides education primarily through Irish). There will be some people who are very clear on their preferences and there will be some who do not have strong views. My department would like this latter group to reflect and consider whether they would prefer the primary school their children currently attend or will attend in coming years or the school they work in to stay as it is or for change to be explored (even if their views are not strong on this). Where respondents do not have a preference, it is permissible for them to indicate the existing configuration for their schools which their children attend or will attend in coming years or the school they work in. In doing so, they are in essence indicating “no preference” for a change to take place.

The duration of the survey is long enough to give school communities time to look at the information on the webpage, to discuss with their school if they wish and to consider what they prefer.

The probability of malicious attack is very low. However, it is a possibility that has been weighed against the usability of the survey. While the survey is running, my department is monitoring the results in real time. The Eircode parents and guardians provide to the primary schools their children attend is the key to completion of the survey. The validation of survey returns is done after surveys have been submitted in order to have as high a response rate as possible (as opposed to validating the Eircode while the respondent is completing the survey). Submitted Eircodes are checked against my department’s Primary Online Database (POD) in respect of primary school children and Child Benefit data in respect of younger children to ensure that the responses are from households with primary school children or younger children. My department also checks for duplicate responses and ensures that the principle of one set of preferences per household, per school, in respect of primary school children, and one set of preferences per household, per school, in respect of children not yet in school is followed. Eircode coverage on my department’s Primary Online Database (POD) is very high and the data/statistics obtained through POD are Irish Statistical Code of Practice (ISSCOP) certified. Matches are done only at Eircode level (no other data are used to match records) and is done in compliance with the relevant data protection legislation. All primary school households who submit a survey return are strongly encouraged to ensure their Eircode is registered with their schools to ensure their preferences are counted.

Measures are taken to ensure only one submission can be made. In cases where a pattern of multiple submission is detected, the Eircodes are flagged and action can be taken. If multiple occurrences of suspect activity occur, additional security measures can be deployed to eliminate the ability of automated responses.

The Primary School Survey is school specific. Parents and guardians of children who are either in, or have yet to start primary school, are being asked their preference on important aspects of school provision and choice in respect of the school that their children attend now or will attend in the future. The answers will help my department to plan for the future. My department will examine in respect of each of the schools which provide education primarily through English, whether parents and guardians of children who currently attend these schools or who will attend these schools in coming years, would prefer their school to provide education through Irish. In tandem with the survey, my department has published a suite of online material to provide clear information for parents and guardians to enable them to make an informed decision. The survey preferences on providing education primarily through the English language or through the Irish language will inform potential future local consultation around opportunities to increase the provision of education through Irish. The survey is not a final step. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will begin. My department will work with the relevant stakeholders where there is support from the parents and guardians for change.

I encourage all parents, guardians, primary school staff and members of primary school Boards of Management to take the opportunity to “Have Your Say” and complete a survey at .