Ms Sineád Brett:

A number of members mentioned that few complaints are left unaddressed. They have pointed out that only a small percentage of complaints are not necessarily completed to the satisfaction of parents.

In regard to the parents' charter, we have only scant details on this from the Minister's speeches at the various conferences. From the perspective of the CPSMA, we would welcome a parents' charter and greater involvement with parents. I am sure boards of management across the country would say the same. Open communication is good. We were asked how we can improve or what suggestions we can make for improvement. Sometimes the difficulty is a lack of communication. In the majority of cases, procedures and policies have been adopted and put in place in the schools, and these are followed. In most cases, these policies and procedures sort out the problem. However, I acknowledge that there are cases in which parents may not be happy with the final outcome. Good communication is key to sorting out issues between boards of management and parents.

I wish to reiterate the points made by Dr. Fennelly in regard to training for boards. Training is delivered nationally, but it is difficult to get people to come out on a winter's evening to attend training. We always encourage members to avail of the training, which is detailed and of great benefit to those who attend it. Feedback and comments from members commend the training.

On the complaints procedure, members of the CPSMA follow a standard complaints procedure when a complaint is made. Ms McElduff outlined this procedure. It starts with an informal stage and ideally the issue should be sorted between the parent and the teacher, if the issue is with the teacher. If not, it may then go through the various stages. The majority of issues are resolved using this procedure, but I accept the point that there are situations where parents may not be satisfied with the outcome.