Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their submissions. I feel extremely ambivalent as to what is the right thing to do. I agree with much of what Deputy Jim Daly said but I also understand the issue. I tend to look at matters through the lens of class, disadvantage and DEIS schools. My initial reaction is there is a huge need for an ombudsman with regard to those areas, especially when there are parents and families in communities who would struggle to advocate for themselves. In fact, sometimes as they do not even realise they are being short-changed or mistreated, complaints will never be made. Sometimes, too, they do not know they have a right to make a complaint about their child's education or how their child is being treated.

I can give an example, and I was quite proud of the students concerned. In the past few months, four students from a Tallaght school contacted me about a suspension each of them had received which they did not feel was warranted. They wanted to know what to do so they contacted me on Facebook. I was delighted they took the initiative to contact me. When I contacted the school and went through the school's policies it turned out they were right. They should not have been suspended from school. Two of them are in leaving certificate year and the policy and procedure of the school had not been followed. I tried to help their parents to go to the school and appeal that decision for their children. It was the same teacher who had done this on a single day in the school. The parents told me what the school had told them. It was said about one child that as he was a senior student he was suspended because he should be setting an example for the school and that the school did not follow policy and procedure if it was a senior student. That is a ridiculous thing to say, but this type of thing is happening all the time. The parents are coming away with this information and not realising that they are not being given a logical argument. It is just teachers trying to justify the decision they made on that day. When I tried to support the parents in going to the board of management they were fearful. They did not want to do it. They did not feel confident enough. They did not think they had the ability or the language to go to the board to advocate and fight that. The issue is dealing with such situations.

There is also the matter of student councils. If one conducts an audit of schools that claim to have student councils one will find it is not true. There are no student councils and they are not meeting. The students do not have a voice. My daughter, who was a student representative, used to follow her teacher around the school asking when a student council meeting would be held when they were not taking place.

I feel there is a need for something such as an education ombudsman.

We also have people continuing in education beyond the age of 18, such as people with intellectual disabilities or those doing further learning. Where does that fall in terms of complaints procedures with the children's ombudsman? Is there another avenue for those complaints? There is a broader realm of education beyond the age of 18 which does not fall into the remit of the children's ombudsman.

Ms Leydon made a very important point about policy needing to create a culture shift. While I think that is right, I do not know whether this Bill achieves it. I do not think we can scare teachers into behaving or teaching differently.

I would love input as to what type of policies can move us to the point at which teachers change their culture. Resources and capital are missing from many schools, but that should not change the attitude of the teacher to the children. The stress that teachers are under is having an effect on the students. While the financial support must be in place, something has to be done in the meantime in the absence of resources in order that children are not losing out. I feel some ambivalence on this, although I am taking on what the witnesses are saying. My instinct is to protect those most marginalised and most disadvantaged. I might have rung up an ombudsman a few times in the past five years if he had been in place.