A national report on school diversity has found evidence of discrimination in second-level school enrolment policies throughout the country.

A new report on school enrolment policies has found that many second-level schools discriminate against children of immigrants, Travellers and special-needs children.

As part of the report, 233 primary and 46 secondary schools in the Western region were surveyed, but figures were not given for specific schools. The reason for this, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Education, is that "the Minister was at pains to ensure that league tables in terms of intake couldn't be compiled."

Although fee-paying schools were not included in the audit, it still found a huge discrepancies between different schools.

Former teacher, Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said she has seen evidence of the issue affecting local schools.

"Last year, or the year before, we had that case of the four 12-year-old boys who couldn't get places in Galway schools. They were from lower socio-economic groups and some of them were carrying learning difficulties.

"I've been looking for years for Mary Hanafin to get schools to take kids from all socio-economic backgrounds and all levels of intelligence. It's unfair that one school should have to deal with all the kids that are harder to teach."

Senator Healy Eames said that the Part 5 planning ruling, which dictates that all housing estates should have 20 per cent social and affordable housing, should apply to schools.

"The same rule should apply to schools; a school should reflect the community children come from. Entry to second-level is the problem, and Mary Hanafin has a huge responsibility here to monitor the enrolment policies, but she also has to provide classrooms to allow this. In Oranmore here, for example, at one stage the school was over subscribed by 150 pupils. The Minister has to move quicker to put the infrastructure in place."

The survey found that the average post-primary school in the Western region had 5.6 per cent enrolment of 'newcomers' or children whose first language was neither English nor Irish. However, this figure varied hugely across the region, with one mixed secondary school having 21.67 per cent enrolment of 'newcomers', while two mixed vocational schools in the region had no 'newcomers'. The average percentage of non-English or Irish-speaking pupils was 5.6 per cent.

Discrepancies in the levels of special needs children were even larger, with one mixed vocational school catering to 55.84 per cent special needs pupils. The school with the lowest percentage of special needs pupils was a boys' secondary school, with 0.4 per cent special needs pupils. The average percentage of special needs pupils enrolled in western schools was 7.52 per cent.

The level of Travellers enrolled in different schools was also varied, with two mixed vocational schools in the Western region having no Traveller pupils, while one mixed secondary school had 9.77 per cent Traveller enrolment. The average percentage of Travellers enrolled in schools across the Western region was 3.44 per cent.

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