With over 3,000 state-funded primary schools to choose from, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Irish parents would have no problem finding places for their children. Not so. The reality is that for many families, getting kids into school is fraught with difficulties.

Schools, too, are under pressure. Some have long waiting lists, while others - often just around the corner from an over-subscribed school - have places to spare. Rather than simply opting for the nearest school, many parents prefer their children to travel considerable distances to attend a particular school. "Most areas have schools that are massively over-subscribed beside schools that are under-utilised," says Deirdre O'Donoghue, co-ordinator of Educate Together, the representative body for multi-denominational schools.

"Overall there are more than enough places available," notes a spokesperson from the Department of Education and Science. However "parents may not able to get their children into the school of first choice".

Catholic national schools that are perceived to be "good" - for a variety of reasons - and many Protestant schools, multi-denominational schools and Gaelscoileanna have huge waiting lists. Indeed, it's not unusual for parents to register their children's names at birth for a particular school.

In some instances, however, parents have no choice but to send their offspring miles away to school. The pressure for places in recently developed areas can be enormous. West Dublin, for example, which includes Clondalkin, Lucan and Esker, has experienced huge growth in recent times and getting children into local schools is a major issue. Older areas close to the city centre - Donnybrook for example - have become popular with young families. This also puts pressure on local schools, according to the Reverend Dan O'Connor, who is education secretary for the Dublin archdiocese.

Nowadays, thanks to the Education Act, all schools are required to publish admission policies. These vary from school to school and are developed at the discretion of the particular school. According to a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Science: "Primary schools are privately owned and privately managed.

Admissions procedures are a matter for the boards of management." The State's 19 multi-denominational schools operate a strict first-come-first-served policy. Children at the top of the waiting list get priority. One of the schools has a six-months rule - if siblings of children attending the school are registered within six months of the date of birth, they will be guaranteed a place. This, Deirdre O'Donoghue says, is to facilitate siblings who are born late in the year and who would otherwise miss out on a place.

Waiting lists vary from year to year, she says. As word of long lists gets around, fewer parents register and over a four-year period the list can disappear.

"If we have more applicants than places, we have to prioritise," says Canon John McCullagh, secretary to the board of education of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland.

"We use our admissions criteria to do it. Church of Ireland national schools operate an admissions policy which ranks applicants." Top of the list are the children of families where at least one parent is a member of the Church of Ireland or the broad Protestant community, followed by siblings of existing pupils.

Not surprisingly, the admissions policies of schools managed by the Catholic Church also stipulate that children of the faith get priority.

In the case of schools under the remit of the Dublin archdiocese, criteria for admission give priority to Catholics of the parish, followed by siblings of existing pupils (even if they are not of the parish or the faith).

Catholic children who live in a parish without a Catholic school are the third group to be considered, followed by any other children who apply.

"Any Traveller children resident in the parish on enrolment day are also entitled to a place," O'Connor says.

Different schools make different arrangements to accommodate the waiting list crisis. In some schools the date and age of enrolment varies from year to year. Schools in a parish may also combine to have a common enrolment policy and allocate places based on proximity, according to O'Connor.

Gaelscoileanna have enjoyed tremendous growth over the last 30 years - from 11 schools in 1973 to 126 this year. Nonetheless, waiting lists continue to grow as anxious parents scramble for places. Schools operate similar admission policies, according to Jacqueline Ni Fhearghusa, who is executive officer of Gaelscoileanna (the national co-ordinating body for Irish-medium schools).

Children of Irish-speaking families get priority, followed by siblings of existing pupils and then children from local Naionrai. After that, it's first come first served. With only a small percentage of parents claiming to be Irish speakers, it pays to put your name down early - at least three years before the child is due to start school, she says. A small number of schools interview parents and favour those who show a genuine interest in the Irish language.

Nowadays, there's a huge onus on schools to take their admissions policies extremely seriously. Under the Education Act, parents have the right of appeal to the Department of Education and Science if they have been refused a place for their child. The appeals mechanism is currently being established, and where there is a dispute, schools will have to prove that they have strictly adhered to their admissions policies.

`Schools have got to be increasingly professional and make sure that they are following procedures," says the Church of Ireland's John McCullagh.

The legislative requirement for transparency puts schools on the spot. "If your decision is challenged, you have to able to show why the decision was made," McCullagh says.

By and large, Irish parents have a considerable amount of freedom when choosing a primary school for their children - unlike the situation in other countries. In New York City, for example, children availing of free state education must attend the local school in their school district. If you want anything else, you pay.

In New York, people are arguing that parents should be allowed to send their children to the school of their choice; here there's an argument in favour of children attending the nearest school.