Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Minister is reading into his brief at present, and that is perfectly understandable. I urge the Minister to give his attention to the matter I have raised. I published the legislation during the lifetime of the previous Dáil. It is quite comprehensive and goes into considerable detail dealing with the various avenues, and it is ready to go to committee. I appeal to the Minister on behalf of those parents who feel aggrieved and have nowhere to go with their grievances. This is the issue I have been championing for the past five years. Parents with a grievance have nowhere to go. The board of management is the final stop and if it states, for example, that one child cannot play with another, there is nowhere for a parent to appeal it. The Department has a hands-off approach, as does the inspectorate. Everybody has a hands-off approach if the board of management - which in many schools is the principal, if we are to call a spade a spade - decides something. If the principal decides something the board of management merely rubber-stamps it. I appreciate the Minister's commitment to pursue the issue and bring it before the education committee as soon as possible.

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