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

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht an deis an Bille seo a thabhairt isteach sa Teach seo tráthnóna inniu. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé déanach sa lá agus déanach sa téarma but, ag an am céanna, táim fíorbhuíoch as an deis é a phlé ar aon nós.

I welcome the opportunity to bring this Bill before the House. This is the last item of business to be transacted in this Dáil session. It is right to say that in the context of the atmosphere around here recently, school is definitely out. This Bill is focused on schools and it is timely that I can refocus us on education before we formally declare that school is out for a while. The purpose of the Bill is to establish an ombudsman for education, provide an appeal mechanism for decisions of boards of education concerning the decisions of teachers and grievances against schools, provide for the investigation and reporting by the ombudsman for education of various matters pertaining to this Act, amend the Education Act 1998 and provide for related matters.

In terms of the current system, our schools are run by boards of management. The latter operate on a voluntary basis and they do a wonderful job. Many of the people involved give of their time in a voluntary capacity, which is very much appreciated by all stakeholders across the education sector, by society as a whole and by us as representatives of the people. I would not like the opportunity to pass without extending my appreciation to people for the they have made to boards of management throughout the years. I thank them for their selfless sacrifice and time, all of which are given free, which is of enormous and immense to the value to the entire education system.

The difficulty I have come across - I am sure numerous of my colleagues will have encountered this issue in their roles as public representatives - is to whom people go when things go wrong. Thankfully, it is only a small fraction of our school boards that are not functioning properly. Currently, when parents have a legitimate grievance and they lodge that with the board of management, the board of management can refuse to even acknowledge it. I have come across many such cases of boards of management have refused to acknowledge a letter or correspondence, which can be very frustrating. When one gets a parking fine one can appeal it. In this day and age there are avenues to appeal everything in the interests of fairness, transparency, openness and accountability. Within the education sector, however, which is the sector to which we hand over our most precious asset - our children - each school day, there is no such mechanism.

There is a board of management that is responsible for what happens within that school on a given day. If something goes wrong and someone takes it up with the board of management - in some cases the principal effectively is the board of management and there is no functioning board - the principal will tell the board that there is nothing here and to move on and the board will go along with it. I am trying to highlight the fact that if someone wants to appeal that and go to a higher authority and have it assessed, there is nowhere to go. The Department takes a very "hands off" approach to dealing with complaints from parents. I have been unable to get the number of complaints it has received over the years but I know the response it gives, namely, that the boards are constituted in such a way that they are autonomous and are not accountable to the Department. If someone goes to the patron or any of the other bodies involved in the education, they will tell them that it is a matter for the board of management. Effectively, when something goes wrong, it can be impenetrable and one cannot get through or beyond it or get someone to hold to account. This is why I want to see an education ombudsman established so that where we feel decisions taken that affect our children on a daily basis in schools are wrong and that our child has been aggrieved in some way, we have an avenue with which to voice that grievance to a competent, qualified and independent authority such as an education ombudsman.

The role and functions of the ombudsman will be debated through committee but I have outlined a number of them in the Bill. They include advising the Minister and the Government as may be appropriate; encouraging schools to develop policies, practices and procedures; collecting and disseminating information on matters relating to the education of children; promoting awareness among schools and members of the public regarding matters relating to the education of children; highlighting issues relating to the education of children; exchanging information and co-operating with the ombudsman for education in other states; and monitoring and reviewing generally the operation of legislation concerning matters relating to the education of children. In other words, if an ombudsman for education was in existence right now, this Bill would be sent to them for their views and they would outline what they feel. The education sector is a massive sector of enormous importance and we are always very good at paying lip service to Ireland as the isle of saints and scholars. In the region of €8 billion is spent on education yet we have no ombudsman with an overarching responsibility for it.

We spend about €2.1 billion on policing and we have a Garda ombudsman, a Garda inspectorate and a policing authority. We have lots of bodies holding that system to account and people with grievances can appeal to them but there is no such avenue within education. There is no competent person who is dedicated solely to education matters and who will make a judgment on issue like this. We have an ombudsman for pensions and an ombudsman for the Defence Forces but we do not have an ombudsman for education, which I find very strange. We have an unusual system of governance vis-à-visboards of management. These boards are voluntary and independent and are separate from the Department, which is suitable on many fronts. The very same Department would be held accountable by this ombudsman, were it to be established. This is why I am putting this Bill forward.

The Ombudsman for Children is an obvious point for people to make complaints to if they have any complaints relating to the education sector. A total of 47% of complaints received by the Ombudsman for Children relate to education. He has received more than 4,000 of them over the past ten years. I have seen too many responses, have studied test cases and have been involved in cases where I have prompted parents to write to the Ombudsman for Children and solicited responses. In too many cases, the response is "I have no role or remit in this particular issue". To put it very basically, unless someone's child is slapped or their overall welfare is impacted, the Ombudsman for Children does not have any remit. My issue is educational welfare, which is separate from general welfare. If as a result of an administrative decision taken by the board of management, someone's child is in an overcrowded classroom of 43 or 44 junior and senior infants contrary to the circular issued by the Department stipulating that the lower numbers should be kept in the lower classes and higher numbers should be kept in the higher classes and the parent wants to appeal, the Ombudsman for Children will tell them that he has no role or function in respect of it because it is educational welfare we are talking about. That is what I am trying to get across here. We need somebody who will stand up for educational welfare. Where a grievance concerning the system or a decision that has negatively impacted the educational welfare of anyone's child exists, we should have a competent authority that would investigate that.

The ombudsman would have a much broader role. It is not just about grievances. I would stress the responsibility of the ombudsman for education in respect of theorising on the issues pertaining to education. There are many debates raging vis-à-visspecial needs education, access to schools and third-level fees. There are numerous issues in the education sector that are very contentious and if we had a dedicated ombudsman for education who was completely immersed in the education sector and fully briefed and versed in the law and language of education, they would have a very significant contribution to make to the various debates. They would also be a huge asset to this House and individual Members of this House. If a parent came to a Deputy to tell them that their Johnny or Mary is being bullied in school and that they went to the teacher who did nothing about it, that Deputy would automatically have a point of contact straightaway because there would be an ombudsman for education who would be familiar with and competent in that area and the Deputy could suggest to the parent that they write to the ombudsman.

This ombudsman would have a very strong role in our deliberations on legislation in terms of assisting, advising and suggesting. Section 28 of the Education Act 1998 has not been activated. There are numerous aspirations out there that are just not happening and an education ombudsman would play a particular role in lobbying and ensuring that the attention of this House is focused on solutions for these issues.

Another argument one could come across is that there is no education ombudsman in most of our European neighbours. Most European countries do not have an education system like our system. They do not have our history. Ireland was first with the smoking ban and marriage equality through a referendum. This is another area in which Ireland can lead the way as an island that is proud of our saints and scholars. I do not know how relevant the saints are anymore but I hope we are still relatively scholarly and put a value on our education system. I would like to see us be the first country in Europe to lead the way on this. I think there is an ombudsman for education in some US states and I know the Australian Parliament has been debating the establishment of an education ombudsman for some time. A member of the Australian Parliament has a similar obsession to mine in terms of trying to establish an education ombudsman. There are differing education models in various countries.

The issue of children with special educational needs is close to all our hearts. I taught in primary and secondary schools and was a principal of a primary school so I am a poacher turned gamekeeper or vice versabecause I have seen it from both sides and have been on boards of management. As a principal, I have seen how the board can protect a principal when they need it and how the principal can use the board very efficiently to protect them from any outside criticism if they so wish. I have sat on numerous boards of management at second level because I was a member of the VEC and chaired many section 29 appeals so I have a certain knowledge in the education sphere and knowledge of things that are very difficult to get to the bottom of when they go wrong.

I am very anxious that we do not continue with the charade of pretending that the Ombudsman for Children is dealing with these complaints because he is not. He is concerned with the welfare of the child. If they are hungry, cold or injured, the Ombudsman for Children has a role. We have two separate Departments - the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Department of Education and Skills. Why can we not have an ombudsman for education in the same way we have an Ombudsman for Children?

I referred to children with special needs. This is a huge area of concern. I have received support from parents of children with special needs since I first mooted this Bill back in 2015. I see the worry, concern, pressure and stress involved in trying to ensure they can get the necessary resources for their child and know the security they would feel from knowing that there was an education ombudsman out there who was on their side and who would make suggestions. I am not hung up on the compellability aspect of the ombudsman because I believe the Ombudsman's direction was only ignored once in 27 years. I am not hung up on compellability. I just think that if an ombudsman for education was there and told a school that it should do something, the school would have the wherewithal and decency to go along with it.

It is the comfort and security it would give to parents who have enough stresses in their lives. If their children have special learning needs, it really is an education ombudsman that is necessary and not the Ombudsman for Children. This is not a them or us situation; I am not passing any criticism on the children's Ombudsman. I published legislation in the previous Dáil to try to widen the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to deal specifically with education issues. That legislation was not accepted by the Government and the Department at the time so I went about trying to get this legislation together to have a separate ombudsman for education specifically to deal with the issues I have been highlighting for some time. That is it in a nutshell.

I would like to thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to bring this before the House and I look forward to the contributions of other Members in respect of it.

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