Jim Daly TD: Opposition to Ombudsman suggest school bodies fear accountability

The opposition of most schools bodies to a proposed Ombudsman for Education suggests a fear of accountability, a Fine Gael TD has claimed.

Jim Daly’s bill proposes a dedicated ombudsman to hear appeals in relation to the decisions of school boards. It was the subject of a third hearing by the Oireachtas Education Committee yesterday. But of nine school management bodies represented, only Education and Training Boards Ireland supported the idea.

The others asserted, as did teacher unions and other organisations at previous hearings, that the decision-making processes of schools are already open to scrutiny by the Children’s Ombudsman, almost half of whose caseload relates to schools.

Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, general secretary of all-Irish primary schools patron body An Foras Pátrúnachta, said schools are also answerable to the Department of Education inspectorate, an appeal system on enrolment issues, and that staff are now subject to fitness-to-teach functions of the Teaching Council.

Mr Daly criticised the department for seeking to have the pre-legislative scrutiny of his bill taken alongside that of its own Parent and Student Charter Bill. However, committee chairwoman, Fiona O’Loughlin, reminded him that the committee members made the decision to consider them at the same time.

“The more resistance I meet, led by the department in the first instance, [from groups] that don’t want an Ombudsman for Education, suggests to me that there’s a fear there,” Mr Daly said.

“In this country, you can appeal a parking ticket, yet [in relation to] a school decision about your child or your career as a teacher, there’s nowhere to go,” he said.

Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools president, Antoinette NicGearailt, said they did not fear an education ombudsman, but added that organisations were concerned about a risk of duplication of what already exists.