Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
278. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education if a school is held responsible for the delay in circumstances (details supplied) in the same manner as parents are held responsible when they do not meet the specified timeframes regarding appeals of this nature; and if she will provide advice in relation to further options for parents in this situation. [19398/23]
View answerSection 29 of the Education Act 1998 as inserted by section 7 of the Education (Admissions to School) Act 2018 provides for a paper based appeal to be considered by an independent appeals committee appointed by the Minister for Education, in circumstances where a parent has been refused enrolment due to oversubscription.
Section 29 B (1) of the Act provides for procedures to be drawn up for taking such appeals and these procedures outline the form and manner in which an appeal shall be brought, including the period during which an appeal shall be brought.
These procedures were drawn up following consultation with the education partners and are available on gov.ie website at the following link
gov.ie - Appeals in relation to refusal to admit a student due to a school being oversubscribed (www.gov.ie)
Section 29 F(1) (c) of the Act states that an appeal committee shall refuse to hear or determine an appeal that has not been made within the period specified in procedures under section 29B.
Section 3.3 (b) of these procedures makes it clear that an appeal must be made no later than 63 calendar days from the date of the decision to refuse admission, even if a school Board has failed to comply with section 2.3 of the procedures by not notifying the applicant of the outcome of their request for review within the permitted timeframe.
The section does not impose a penalty on the school for failing to comply however the appeals committee can take this failure of the school to comply with section 2.3 into their consideration when making their determination.
Where the appeal is not lodged within the 63 calendar days from the date of decision of the School authority to refuse admission there is no provision for an appeal committee to consider an appeal that is received outside the timelines indicated in the procedures.
The Educational Welfare Services within Tusla Education Support Services (TESS) is the legal body which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school placement for their child. Where such difficulties exist the contact details for TESS are available at the following link www.tusla.ie/tess/get-in-touch/ or by email at tessinfo@tusla.ie
In addition should the student in question have special Educational Needs the Special Educational Needs Organiser [ SENO ] an employee of the National Council for Special Education is available to offer support and advice to the parent to source a suitable school placement.
The link to the NCSE website to identity the local SENO for an area in which the parent resides is : ncse.ie/special-educational-needs-organiser-seno
