Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Ruane in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to the House and I express our admiration for his proactivity and leadership and his new approaches in education. He is an extraordinarily successful Minister and it is a pleasure to work with him.

I understand and fully support the spirit of Senator Ruane's amendment and what she is trying to achieve. Nobody would question the efficacy of an appeals system and the efficacy of being as fair as possible. All I will say is I was a member of the board of management of a community school for a number of years. I was a nominee of the VEC. An appeals process by its nature is quasi-judicial. It is a big process and it has to be very rigorous and go through due process. We would not want to have it at the drop of a hat, and we certainly would not want to have it too readily. That is the balance that needs to be struck. We could not have it too often or too easily obtained.

Senator Ó Céidigh said no school suspends a student except in a very extreme situation. I remember when I was on the board of management at every meeting a disciplinary process was gone through first, then parents were met and the student was met with the parents. There was an entire process, which should be the case, and support and career guidance was given before suspension. I would be careful about it. The principle of an appeal is sacrosanct and unmovable, but to have it too readily and too quickly might be a difficulty.

I see Senator Ó Céidigh's point about resources. It is important that schools are able to very discreetly let certain children who need it go on school tours and certain children who need it take part in sports and have a range of experiences for which they might not have an opportunity otherwise. I taught in a primary school and we did this with a great level of discretion and tact and almost in an anonymous fashion. Senator Ó Céidigh is correct to state such an intervention could be transformative for a child and could make all the difference. It is important to do these things but to do them with great tact and discretion. It would be good to have funding through a discretionary fund to use in these situations.