School bring action over Department of Education ruling

A primary school has challenged a direction of the Department of Education that it must enrol a child with speech and language problems despite there not being a place for him.

The school told the High Court it had just three places available in a special class for such children and had to whittle its intake for the current academic year down to three from 17 applications it had received.

Feichin McDonagh SC, counsel for the school board of management, told Ms Justice Eileen Creedon that the mother of one of the children turned away had appealed the school’s refusal. He said her appeal had gone before a three-person committee established by the department, which had been successful. The committee had made a recommendation that the child be enrolled.