Department’s power upheld by court [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 26 November 2010
THE Supreme Court has upheld the power of Department of Education appeals committee to fully hear cases in which children are refused enrolment by a school.
The unanimous judgment by the court is significant as it is the first time such powers bestowed by the 1998 Education Act have been tested at such a high level. More than 40% of the 1,256 appeals heard under section 29 of the act between 2001 and the end of last year, against school decisions to expel, suspend or refuse enrol students, have been successful.
The case arose after the parents of two children who were refused enrolment in February 2008 by St Molaga’s National School in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, took a section 29 appeal. The appeals committee appointed by the department ruled the school should accept the children who were aged nine and 10 at the time.
The school had claimed it was already over capacity and it had refused 40 other applications for that reason since the previous September.
Around the same period, the department had been under significant pressure to find school places to match a sudden rise in pupil numbers in the Balbriggan area of north Co Dublin, where a number of new primary schools have since been opened.
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