Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2004
248 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Education and Science if provision exists in recently enacted education legislation which allows a parent who has primary custody of a child whose other parent they are separated from to decide on the school which should be selected for the child’s education without the other parent’s consent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20024/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraArticle 42 of the Constitution provides an absolute right of parents to choose the form of education they provide or to have provided to their children. Primary legislation gives effect to this right and includes the Education Act 1998 and the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003 will further strengthen the right of parents to secure enrolment in a school best able to meet the needs of their child.
None of the foregoing legislation specifically distinguishes between parents who act in concert and those who disagree and are separated, divorced or unmarried. However each provides that "parent" shall be interpreted to include a foster parent, a guardian appointed under the Guardianship of Children Acts, 1964 to 1997, or other person acting in loco parentis who has a child in his or her care subject to any statutory power or order of a court and, in the case of a child who has been adopted under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1998, or, where the child has been adopted outside the State, means the adopter or adopters or the surviving adopter. Enrolment of children is, in the first instance, a matter for boards of management rather than my Department and they must address the circumstances of each case while respecting any order made by the court in relation to the custody and welfare of the child.
