Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 24, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 29 of Education Act 1998

22. Section 29(1) of the Education Act 1998 is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (d):

“(e) makes a decision which a parent or guardian of the affected student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, considers is unfair, disproportionate or otherwise not in the best interest of the student,”.”.

This amendment seeks to deal with instances in which a decision of a board of management can be appealed to the Department of Education and Skills. We are amending the Education Act in significant ways as part of the Bill under discussion. I accept the amendment does not directly relate to the establishment of the Teaching Council but it is important that the issue would be considered. I wish to broaden the avenues available to parents and students who are not satisfied with how a board of management deals with a particular complaint or issue. At the moment under section 9 of the Education Act the only instances in which an appeal can be made to the Secretary General of the Department relate primarily to enrolment issues and also to issues of suspension or expulsion of a student from a school. Where a parent of a child is dissatisfied with how a board of management deals with any other issue no avenue of appeal is open to them outside of a court application.

Often, in the past when people contacted the Department on the matter they were referred to the Ombudsman for Children. However, that office is restricted in handling complaints made to it to the process by which the complaint was dealt with as opposed to the content of a complaint. That is something which needs to be addressed. It is a role in which the Department, as the overseeing body for education and the setting of education policy, needs to become involved. In addition, the Department is the primary funding body for education. We need the Department to provide avenues for appeals to be made to it where a family or a young person aged over 18 feel they have been treated disproportionately or unfairly or a decision has been made by a board of management which is not in their best interests and where there is no provision for an appeal in that regard to another body.