The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) said today it was satisfied that its schools had not controvened the Equal Status Act when it rejected enrolments.
The association said it had sought legal advice after the Equality Authority wrote to CPSMA general secretary Dan O'Connor earlier this month regarding the schools' admission policy.
The authority's letter followed an outcry after numerous pupils faced nationwide the beginning of the school year without a placement. Most schools in Ireland are run by Catholic associations, while the bulk of those excluded were non-Catholics.
"Contrary to what the Equality Authority has suggested, Catholic Primary Schools are not in breach of the Equal Status Act," the association said today.
The Equal Status Act provides for two alternative scenarios in which a school can determine their admission policies.
But CPSMA said today that where a denominational school admits someone of a particular religious denomination in preference to other students, the school does not have to prove that its policy is "essential to maintain the ethos of the school".
It said this applied particularly in cases of over-subscription.