Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 9, lines 9 to 14, to delete all words from and including "by—" in line 9 down to and including line 14 and substitute the following:

"by admitting the student to the school or special class concerned.".

My amendment relates to the process by which a student can appeal to the board of a school if they have been denied admission due to a school being oversubscribed under section 29C(1) or for another reason under section 29C(2).

The applicant makes an appeal to the board under section 29C. The board assesses the appeal based on the implementation of the schools admission policy and the content of the admissions notice. The board can then decide to issue a statement to the applicant stating: there was no error; there was an error but it had no material effect on the outcome; or that there was an error and it had a material effect on the outcome, that is, the student was denied admission as a result. This is clearly a serious situation as the school has made an error in implementing its own admissions policy. The school has been found to be at fault but if the board finds the school acted in error there are two options: first, to admit the student, and, second, to simply adjust the student's place on the school's waiting list. Where the board has been found to be at fault, a student is not even guaranteed a reversal of the its wrong decision and a place in the school, but the piecemeal measure of a higher spot on the waiting list.

My amendment removes the ability of the school to go for the easy option and move a student up the waiting list and, instead, provides the school must admit the person to the school or special class. If a board makes a mistake, error or fault in this area, the student should not have to suffer. The board should have a legal responsibility to facilitate their admission and it should not have a get out of jail option to move a child up the waiting list.

This is an important amendment because otherwise the appeal to the board is somewhat tokenistic if the decision does not have to be reversed. If a child is just moved up a waiting list, he or she may only be moved up one spot as opposed to next on the waiting list, even though he or she was not admitted because of an error. If we are going to legislate for schools to follow their admission policies in the way they are supposed to, the appeal should have consequences, which means that the child is granted a place in the school.

I would like the Minister's feedback on the amendment. I urge him to accept it.