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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2004

Chapter 3 - Department of Education and Science - Enrolment Application Refused

Department of Education and Science

Enrolment Application Refused

A man complained to me on behalf of his son whose application for enrolment in a school was refused. The man had appealed the decision to refuse the application for enrolment and the Appeals Committee upheld the appeal. However, the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science effectively overruled the Appeals Committee’s decision. The net result of this was a continuance of the decision to refuse the application for enrolment. The complainant considered that, in doing so, he had exceeded his powers under Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998. Section 29(7)(b) of the Act states that in a case where a complaint is upheld, the Secretary General may give such directions to the school Board of Management as appear to him (having regard to any recommendation made by the appeals committee) to be expedient for the purpose of remedying the matter which was the subject of the appeal and the Board shall act in accordance with such directions. In this case, the Secretary General used his discretionary powers to overrule the recommendations of the Appeals Committee and, in doing so, had decided that it would not be appropriate to direct the Board to enrol the complainant’s son in the school.

Having examined the complaint, I considered that the Secretary General had, in this case, misinterpreted the discretion granted to him by Section 29(7)(b) of the Education Act, 1998. I was of the view that his discretion should be limited to giving directions which set out the manner in which effect is to be given to the determination of the Appeals Committee. I concluded that the Secretary General may have exceeded his powers under the Act and that he may have based his decision on irrelevant grounds. I therefore asked him to review his decision in this case.

As a result of my intervention, the Secretary General reversed his original decision and issued a direction to the school Board of Management to allow the complainant’s son to enrol in the school from September 2004. The outcome of this case has resulted in an important clarification of the powers of the Secretary General in dealing with appeals. It should also assist in enhancing the independence of the appeals structures established under the Education Act, 1998.

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