School Enrolments
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
============================================================

Emer Higgins (FG), Dublin Mid-West

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta. I congratulate Deputy Neville and the school communities. I know that he attended one of the schools. I am sure this is a big day for both he Deputy and the school communities. I thank him for raising this issue and for his strong and consistent advocacy on behalf of families in Leixlip. I know he worked very closely with the school community on this issue. His engagement and that of the school community with the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton, both on the ground locally and in the House, has been important. I compliment Deputy Neville on his hard work because he has been instrumental in bringing this matter to a positive outcome.
Providing school places for every child, including those with additional needs, is a top priority for the Government. While we are seeing a general decline in enrolments nationally, we know that growing communities like Leixlip are facing real and immediate pressures. Behind every statistic are families who simply want a place for their child in a local school. While the 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 duplications of applications, applications from outside an area and school-of-choice factors.
In Leixlip, there has been particular pressure for junior infant places for September 2026. Department officials have been working closely with local schools, analysing the data and responding directly to the concerns raised by parents and the Deputy. Today, I am pleased to confirm a clear and practical step forward. Following direct engagement with Scoil Mhuire on Green Lane, the Department of education has, as the Deputy outlined, now approved the opening of a second junior infant class. This additional class will be in place for September 2026 to accommodate local children.
I am sure the Deputy will agree that this is a real and tangible outcome that will make a difference for families in the area. It will mean more local children will now have access to a place in their community. While places are available across the wider Leixlip area, we recognise that families want to stay local, wherever possible. That is why targeted, local actions like this matter.
The 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. For planning purposes, the Department examines urban areas as a whole and does not recognise parish boundaries in the review. 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 and enrolment processes must be non-discriminatory and 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 accordance with the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, schools are required to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools. It is an important feature of the act that schools can only make a decision on an application for admission that is based on the school’s admission policy.
I am pleased to be putting positive news on the record of the House today. I again thank the Deputy and the local school community in Leixlip who have engaged in a constructive and successful campaign.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30