Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) has advised my officials that there were 128 students expelled from second level schools for the 2008/09 school year and that there were 148 students for the following school year. The data for 2010/2011 school year is being finalised by the NEWB.

Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department, or in the case of a Vocational Educational Committee (VEC) school to the VEC in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student or suspends a student for 20 or more days in any school year. A Section 29 committee is established for the purposes of hearing and determining an appeal and consists of three persons which includes an Inspector, and two other persons who have the requisite expertise, experience and independence to serve on these committees.

The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the cost of the latter two persons is set out in the table below.

*Cost excludes inspectors, and includes a small percentage of spending relating to room hire for some hearings in instances where rooms at Department of Education & Skills office were unavailable.

The main costs involved in the section 29 process relate to payments to appeal committee members, including travel and subsistence.