Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006
654 Ms C. Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of section 29 appeals received in 2004, 2005 and to date in 2006; the number concluded successfully for those making the appeal; the number remaining unresolved in 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25657/06]
View answerSection 29 allows parents, and students who have reached the age of 18, the right to appeal certain decisions made by a school's Board of Management. Appeals may be made in respect of a decision to (i) permanently exclude a student (ii) suspend a student from the school for a period which would bring the cumulative period of suspension to 20 school days in any one school year or (iii) refuse to enrol a student. In 2004 and 2005 my Department dealt with 253 and 270 appeals respectively under section 29 of the Education Act, 1988. These figures cover both first and second level schools. The position in relation to 2004 appeals is that 48 were withdrawnby the appellant. In addition a further 14 appeals were resolved by local agreement between the appellant and school and 46 were resolved by an independent facilitator, appointed by my Department, who brokered an agreement between the parties to the appeal. The remaining 145 cases were heard by an appeals committee. Of these, 80 were upheld, in other words the appeal was successful. In relation to 2005 appeals, 37 were withdrawn. A further 50 appeals were resolved by local agreement and 34 were resolved by an independent facilitator. The remaining 149 cases were heard by an appeals committee and of these, 59 were upheld. In the period from January to the end of June 2006 my Department has dealt with 191 appeals and 153 of these have been concluded to date. 31 appeals have been withdrawn. A further 12 resolved by local agreement and 11 by independent facilitation. Hearings have been held in 99 cases, and 43 of these were upheld. The remaining 38 appeals are being processed by my Department in accordance with the procedures set out in Circular M48/01.
