Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

164. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to comment on options available to parents of children with additional needs who wish to make complaints about the treatment of their children in schools (details supplied); beyond complaints to Boards of Management the recourse parents have when they feel their children have been badly treated or their rights infringed upon [22093/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Under the Education Act 1998 the Board of Management of a school is the body charged with the direct governance of a school and it is the Board of Management which employs the staff at the school. The Board of Management is accountable to the Patron of the school.

Whereas the Department of Education provides funding and policy direction for schools, the Department, does not have the power to instruct schools to follow a particular course of direction with regard to individual complaint cases. The Department's role is to clarify for parents and students how their grievances and complaints against schools can be progressed.

A school may have a formal complaints process in which case this should be followed in pursuing any complaint.

Where a parent is the view that a school's board of management has failed to investigate or adequately investigate a complaint, it is open to them to raise the matter directly with the Chairperson of the Board of Management by correspondence marked “ Private and Confidential “

A parent also has the option of raising a complaint with the Ombudsman for Children. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children may independently investigate complaints about schools recognised by the Department of Education, 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 administrative actions or non-actions of a school has, or, may have, adversely affected the child.