A Cork TD has joined in calling for the end to school rules which favour the relatives of past pupils over local schoolchildren.

The legislation the Labour Party has brought forward is proposing to ensure that schools cannot prioritise the children or grandchildren of past pupils over local children, said Cork South Central Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire.

“Obviously, I think it’s vitally important the role of past pupils and their children have to play, and we want to ensure as much as possible the continuity within a school and the traditions being passed on, and clearly when families continue to live in the area, past pupils, and the grandchildren of past pupils, continue to play a huge role,” said Mr Ó Laoghaire.

However, the priority has to be the local child, he said. 

“You cannot have a situation where you have a child who is living two or three streets away, loses out to a child who is living much further away. 

"So for me, a child whose family might be new to the area, or new to the county, or even new to the country: those children, when they are living near the school, they need to be the highest priority.” 

Mr Ó Laoghaire said these situations only arise when schools are oversubscribed, and “what we need to do as well, is to ensure, where there is pressure on school places, particularly on the east coast, but in some of the cities as well, in Cork, Galway, and Limerick, that there are adequate places in schools, so you don’t have that oversubscribed situation in schools. And that the vast majority of people can attend the school of their choice.”