Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when further information on the operation of second level schools will be released; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39565/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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During the summer I announced that my Department would publish school inspection reports arising from the general programme of school inspections. Under this programme a selected number of schools is inspected on a cyclical basis.

Reports arising from the general inspection programme for schools and centres for education will be published in their entirety and in accordance with the principles and procedures described in "Guidelines on the Publication of School Inspection Reports". A draft of this document was circulated to the education partners for comment and the inspectorate is currently finalising the guidelines in light of the written comments received from the education partners. I intend to publish the finalised guidelines in January 2006 and arrange that inspections following the publication of the guidelines will be conducted on the basis that the resulting reports will be published.

The new procedures will provide the school with a right of response to the reports and it is intended that both the inspection report and the school response — where this is provided by the school's board of management — will be published simultaneously. Boards of management and teachers also have the right to seek a review of an inspection. The timeframe must, therefore, allow for the possibility of review as well as time for the school to prepare a response.