Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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372. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the updated position on the availability of primary school places for the coming year in in County Kildare (details supplied); if the number of places per school at the location could be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29327/26]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, 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.

The annual enrolment process for new Junior Infants at primary and new First Years at post-primary is a very large-scale operation that is transacted at close to 4,000 schools across the country, involving some 140,000 pupils. My department works with schools, patrons, and management bodies to ensure that there are sufficient school places available to meet the needs of children.

While my department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplication of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. Notwithstanding the above, in some areas, demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places.

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 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 provision of primary school places and the operation of admissions processes are matters for individual school authorities, in line with their published admissions policies and relevant legislation. Schools determine their own intake numbers and maintain their own enrolment and waiting list information.

The Department does not centrally collate or hold a definitive dataset of available places or waiting lists by school planning area.

Information on junior infant intake numbers for individual schools is published in each school’s Admissions Notice on their respective websites. National enrolment data is available on gov.ie.

My Department will continue to keep primary school places in the Prosperous_Clane school planning area, as with others across the country, under review.