The Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, is set to put forward proposals to limit the power of schools to set their 
own admissions policies, according to a report in the Irish Times.
According to the report, a discussion paper formulated by the Minister suggests that schools will no longer be able to use “siblings policies”, waiting lists or would-be pupils’ academic reports as criteria for selecting pupils.
The news comes after a Circut Court in Clonmel allowed an appeal by a secondary school against a ruling that it had discriminated against a Traveller boy refusing him admission.
The appeal was lodged by Christian Brothers High School in Clonmel against a decision by the Equality Tribunal which found that the school had indirectly discriminate against Travellers when it refused a Traveller boy admission.
John Stokes (13), through his mother, lodged the complaint against the school on the grounds that it had breached the Equal Status Act when it failed to admit him to the school.
Yesterday Judge Tom Teehan said what was significant was whether the parental rule was discriminatory against Travellers and if so, could it be objectively justified by reference to a legitimate aim and means to achieve it which could be deemed to be both appropriate and necessary.
Judge Teehan said that the parental rule was discriminatory against Travellers and new immigrants such as Polish and Nigerian applicants whose parents were unlikely to have attended the school.
However, he found that the policy referred to a legitimate policy aim, that of supporting the family ethos within education.
He also found the policy was appropriate in that applicant numbers exceeded available places in all but two years in recent times and the parental rule helped strike a balance between admission based on academic results and admission based on exceptional circumstances.
Judge Teehan ruled that the parental rule was a necessary step to creating a balanced and proportionate admissions policy.
However, according to the Irish Times the minister appears determined to press ahead with changes to school admissions policies.
The report said that Mr Quinn opposes the right of schools to determine who they can admit, on the basis that it is discriminatory.
In June, he said the discussion document was “not meant to be prescriptive, nor have any decisions been made as to what elements will be contained in any final regulations or legislation.
“It is meant to lead and provoke debate on enrolment policies,” he added.
At present, schools are free to draw up their own admissions criteria provided these are consistent with equality legislation.
In 2006, Mary Hanafin, as minister for education, accused some schools of using “subtle practices” to exclude certain students.
The report also said that the Department of Education said it had noted the Clonmel ruling, but said that a new regulatory framework would be drawn up to address “how best to allocate school places to prospective students”.