Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider conducting an investigation into the difficulties surrounding a student (details supplied) in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34261/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Under the Education Act 1998, legally, all schools are managed by school Boards of Management, on behalf of the school patrons or trustees, and it is the Board of Management that employ the teachers at the school. Accordingly, whereas I provide funding and policy direction for schools, neither I nor the Department have legal powers to instruct schools to follow a particular course of direction with regards to individual complaint cases, or to investigate individual complaints except where the complaint involves a refused enrolment, expulsion or suspension, in accordance with Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act.

My Department's role is to clarify for parents and students how their grievances and complaints against schools can be progressed. If a parent wishes to make a complaint against a teacher or school they should contact the relevant school authorities. The complaint procedures adopted by most schools are those that have been agreed between the teacher unions and school management bodies. Responsibility for tackling bullying falls to the level of the individual school, as it is at local level that an effective anti-bullying climate must be established and at that level that actions should be taken to address bullying.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children may independently investigate complaints about schools recognised with the Department of Education and Skills, provided the parent has firstly and fully followed the school's complaints procedures. The key criterion for any intervention by the Ombudsman for Children is that the action of the school has had a negative affect on a child. The office can be contacted at Ombudsman for Children's Office, Millennium House, 52-56 Great Strand Street, Dublin 1, telephone 1800 202040 or (01)8656800, e-mail oco@oco.ie.

Further guidance to parents on progressing a concern in relation their child's school is available on the Guide to Services Page of my Department's website at www.education.ie.

The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) with statutory responsibility to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving.

The NEWB's network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) is one of the key means by which the Board ensures that each child attends and benefits from education. Key aspects of the role of an EWO is to advise parents in relation to the procedures for enrolment in schools and to assist parents where they are experiencing difficulties in finding school places.

While the NEWB falls under the remit of my Colleague Minister Frances Fitzgerald, I have confirmed via the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, that the local Educational Welfare Officers are aware of and currently engaged with the case in question. I also understand that my Department has approved home tuition for the child in question.