7A. (1) When making an application for admission to a recognised primary school, an applicant may provide—

(a) a statement confirming that the student in respect of whom the application relates is a member of a minority religion and that the applicant wishes the student to be educated in a school that provides a programme of religious instruction or religious education which is of the same religious ethos as, or a similar religious ethos to, the religious ethos of the minority religion of the student concerned, and

(b) any evidence that the applicant wishes to include to support the statement that the student in respect of whom the application relates is a member of a minority religion.

(2) A recognised primary school may, following an application in accordance with subsection (1) and in accordance with this section, give priority to the admission of a student where the school is satisfied that—

(a) the student concerned is a member of a minority religion, and

(b) the school provides a programme of religious instruction or religious education which is of the same religious ethos as, or a similar religious ethos to, the religious ethos of the minority religion of the student concerned.

(3) In satisfying itself in accordance with subsection (2)(a) a recognised primary school shall take into account only—

(a) the statement that the applicant has provided in accordance with subsection (1)(a), and

(b) any evidence that the applicant has provided in accordance with subsection (1)(b).

(4) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a recognised primary school may not for the purpose of admission to the school concerned rank, in order of preference, by virtue of the particular religious denomination of a student who has satisfied the school in accordance with subsection (2) as against students of other religious denominations who have satisfied the school concerned in accordance with that subsection.

(b) Nothing in paragraph (a) shall preclude a recognised primary school from applying the selection criteria set out in the school’s admission policy to students who have satisfied the school in accordance with subsection (2), where the number of such students is greater than the number of places available.

(5) The Minister for Education and Skills shall—

(a) not later than 5 years after section 11 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 comes into operation, commence a review of the operation of this section, and

(b) not later than 12 months after the expiration of the said 5 years, make a report to each House of the Oireachtas of his or her findings and conclusions resulting from that review.

(6) In this section—

‘Act of 1998’ means the Education Act 1998;]

F29[‘admission policy’ has the same meaning as it has in section 2 (amended by section 2 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018) of the Act of 1998;]

F28[‘applicant’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018) of the Act of 1998;

‘minority religion’ means a religion other than a religion whose membership comprises in excess of 10 per cent of the total population of the State based on the population as ascertained by the Central Statistics Office in the most recent census report published by that office setting out the final result of a census of population of the State (whether or not that is the most recent such census of population);

‘recognised primary school’ has the same meaning as it has in section 7;

‘student’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X of the Act of 1998.]