Schools may sue State over broken promises

RUNDOWN schools may be able to sue the Government if there is evidence funding promises were broken, legal experts said yesterday.

Schools around the country have been asked to forward correspondence of any ‘good news’ letters from the Department of Education to a parents’ campaign group.

Tuismitheoirí le Chéile (TLC), set up to lobby for investment in schools, is considering taking the department and Education Minister Noel Dempsey to court to ensure any such agreements are honoured.

They are consulting with Ernest Cantillon solicitors’ firm, which has a proven track record in taking legal cases on behalf of children and their parents to achieve their educational rights.

Eilane Duane, a partner in the legal practice, said they will use any documents gathered by TLC to investigate the possibility of issuing proceedings against Mr Dempsey.

“Any such proceedings would be on foot of promises or agreements entered into between the minister and the various schools to provide funding to carry out certain building works for the betterment of the schools in question,” she said.

“If, on foot of our investigation, it appears to us that such agreements were entered into, it’s our view that these individual schools would have a strong case,” said Ms Duane.

The most likely course of action would be to sue the State for breach of contract and seek a court order to have the necessary money paid out to do the promised work.

While other legal avenues have been investigated in the past to secure funding for substandard schools, this appears to be an approach never strongly probed.

The Department of Education would not comment on the threat of legal action last night.

Papers released to Fine Gael under the Freedom of Information Act show then Education Minister Michael Woods told his officials to change the wording of letters to schools early last year, to give a more positive reading of their applications for funding. However, Dr Woods said this week he had asked staff not to tell schools they were not in line for money because he was still hoping for extra building funds, which came through weeks before the general election.

Catherine Byrne, deputy general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation criticised what she called blatant political interference in the building programme.

“In the last few days, primary schools have learned the real worth of political promises,” she said.

“They are a discredited currency and the minister for education must restore confidence in the process.”