Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At its meeting earlier today, the Select Committee on Education and Skills pre-empted a decision of the Dáil on this Bill by provisionally scheduling some hearings on it. That is a sign of the broad support in the Dáil for this. I agree with Deputy Jim Daly. Parents who have had particularly bad experiences with the education system have contacted us urging us to support the Bill. Thankfully, they are in a minority but in those cases they found that their grievances or issues, particularly with bullying, were not satisfactorily dealt with by boards of management. At that point they discovered, as Deputy Jim Daly pointed out, that there was no avenue open to them and no ombudsman to approach.

Deputy Jim Daly is right to highlight the fact that section 28 of the Education Act 1998 has never really been implemented. That is a problem. The Bill tries to put flesh on the bones of section 28. It is effectively an appeals mechanism against boards of management. There are many issues that have to be dealt with in this context. We are dealing with a publicly-funded education system and, as a result, people have a right to certain standards and fair procedures when they are dealing with publicly-funded schools. It is a publicly-funded system which, at board of management level, is run entirely by volunteers. That is the other side of the equation. Such a proposal will require resources for it to be implemented. Already we hear from schools about section 29 appeals under the Education Act. Those appeals take up a considerable amount of time and effort - and, in some cases, money - to defend. This Bill, as Deputy Jim Daly says, provides for appeals against decisions of boards of management. It provides a period of 28 days for making a complaint to the proposed ombudsman for education. It would give power to the latter to direct any person to take remedial action in respect of the appeal and to specify the time for doing so. Under the Bill, the proposed ombudsman would be given quite considerable powers over the actions of boards of management.

I mentioned the voluntary nature of boards of management. Some people who now sit on them may baulk at the prospect of this Bill but we have community national schools that are being run by education and training boards, ETBs. I wonder would that be a place to start this because those schools are fully and effectively run by the State by means of the ETB system. It might be the place to start if one were to begin with a pilot programme. I am not particularly suggesting that but the fact that they do not have the issues with voluntary boards of management means they should have procedures there because they are wholly funded by the State.

We in Fianna Fáil - certainly those of us who are members of the education and skills committee - look forward to the Committee Stage debate that will take place in September or October if the Bill passes Second Stage this evening. We expect that to happen. We will not be standing in the way of it happening. We support the Bill. We want to ensure that those who feel they have been badly treated by the education system have recourse. That is really key. It is notable that Deputy Jim Daly, who has considerable experience in primary schools and with the VEC and the ETB in Cork, has brought this Bill forward. One might feel that someone in his position might be defensive about this type of arrangement. I welcome his views on it and welcome that it is not being imposed from the outside but coming from someone with the Deputy's experience. We will facilitate the Bill and allow it to pass but there are detailed issues that need to be dealt with by the select committee. We look forward to dealing with them. We look forward to hearing from the Ombudsman for Children because the latter has expressed concerns. They are concerns to which we will listen but, ultimately, the Dáil and the Seanad make the decisions on these matters.

I will certainly be interested to hear the views of boards of management. Some of them might be invited appear before the committee or to make written submissions. We look forward to that and to discovering what has been their experience. I am interested in talking to parents. Other Members might do the same, although perhaps privately because it might not be appropriate to hear, at a public forum, from parents who have had particularly bad experiences with the education system and their lack of a comeback after a board of management has made a decision. I would like to hear from them and I am sure other Members would too.

I would also like to hear the Minister's views on section 28 and whether he has any plans on it? It does not provide the same avenue; it certainly provides recourse but it has never actually been allowed to operate. The Minister's views on that would be most welcome. It might be a way to step forward alongside this Bill.

The Fianna Fáil Party thanks Deputy Jim Daly for bringing this forward and we look forward to the select committee's hearings in September or October.

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