Department has no legal responsibility

THE Department of Education’s lack of legal responsibility for the reprehensible actions of a minority of teachers against children was clarified by the highest court in the land last December.

More than 140 cases of people abused as children by their teachers were on the department’s files, awaiting the finalisation of the case of Louise O’Keeffe, who was abused by the principal of her Co Cork primary school in the 1970s.

The Supreme Court found in a majority ruling that the department did not have any liability for the abuse, as her legal team had claimed, although it did deny the State its claim for costs this month because the earlier judgment clarified a significant point of law.

The court found in favour of the arguments made on behalf of Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe that the department and the State have no legal responsibility for such horrific acts, as schools in which teachers are employed are private entities.

The vast majority of our 4,000 primary and second-level schools are still owned and run, either by or for, the local bishop or a religious order, who place responsibility for the day-to-day running of our schools, including disciplinary issues relating to staff, in the hands of boards of management.

Effectively, the minister of the day is the paymaster, but the school board is the employer and has primary responsibility for what happens in classrooms, corridors and grounds of the school.

Notably, however, the one dissenting judge in Louise O’Keeffe’s case was of the view that it was wrong to exempt the State from vicarious liability. Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan said in his judgment that there was “quite sufficient connection” between the State and the creation of the risk to Ms O’Keeffe to render the State liable.

Abuse victims support group One in Four has called on Mr O’Keeffe to amend the 1998 Education Act to designate the Department of Education as employer of all teachers, as it is already responsible for their training, the school curriculum and the inspection of teaching standards.

“Most of the legal cases in train are of historic abuse but, if you talk to any support services, they will cite allegations of abuse at school in the recent past,” said One in Four executive director Maeve Lewis.

The Department of Education said that it is not practical for it to become involved in the day to day running or management of the country’s 3,200 primary and 732 second level schools.