The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 was approved by Government last Tuesday, 5th July 2016, and was subsequently published and circulated to Deputies.
Publication of the Bill reflects the commitment in the Programme for Government to publish new School Admissions legislation taking account of current draft proposals and addressing issues including publication of school enrolment policies, an end to waiting lists, introduction of annual enrolment structures, and transparency and fairness in admissions for pupils and their parents. The Programme for Government targets enactment of this legislation before September 2017.
The Admissions Bill will provide that where a school has places available it must admit all applicants. The Bill will also require all schools to publish their admissions policies, which will include details of the school's arrangements for students who do not wish to attend religious instruction.
At present the Admissions Bill is silent in relation to any power to determine a limitation on priority for children of past pupils where a school is oversubscribed either by setting a percentage or otherwise. I consider that in bringing the Bill through the Oireachtas, there will be opportunities for members to raise and fully debate this matter, which I plan to deal with in primary legislation by way of an amendment to the Bill.
The Bill provides the enabling power for the Minister to prescribe regulations, following consultation with the relevant education stakeholders, for the purpose of the preparation and publication by schools of admission policies and the admission of students to schools.
The Bill provides that the Minister may make regulations in relation to the selection criteria which schools shall be permitted to apply and/or selection criteria that schools shall be prohibited from applying (such as the date on which an application for admission was received by the school) in cases where the number of students seeking admission to the school is greater than the number of places available at the school.
Any determination in relation to an acceptable phasing out period for waiting lists will be made following stakeholder engagement. The draft regulations, which were published in September 2013, suggested five years as an appropriate phasing out period.
Following enactment of the Admissions Bill, the draft regulations will be updated and circulated for consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
