Education (miscellaneous provisions) act 2007

• Enactment Date: 31 March 2007
• Act Number: 9

Number 9 of 2007
EDUCATION (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2007
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
1. Definitions.
2. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1998.
3. Amendment of section 13 of Act of 1998.
4. Amendment of section 29 of Act of 1998.
5. Amendment of section 53 of Act of 1998.
6. Amendment of Act of 2000.
7. Transfer of lands from City of Cork Vocational Education Committee.
8. Expenses.
9. Short title, collective citation and commencement.
Acts Referred to
Education (Welfare) Act 2000 2000, No. 22 Education Act 1998 1998, No. 51 Education Acts 1878 to 2001 Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 2004, No. 30
Number 9 of 2007
EDUCATION (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2007
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN CHANGES IN THE HEARING OF APPEALS UNDER SECTION 29 OF THE EDUCATION ACT 1998, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN CHANGES IN THE FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY THE INSPECTORATE UNDER SECTION 13 OF THAT ACT, TO MAKE PROVISION WITH REGARD TO ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION UNDER THAT ACT, FOR THOSE AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND THE EDUCATION ACT 1998 AND THE EDUCATION (WELFARE) ACT 2000, TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF CERTAIN LANDS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.
[31st March, 2007]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
	Definitions.	1.— In this Act—
	“ Act of 1998 ” means the Education Act 1998 ;
	“ Act of 2000 ” means the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 ;
	“ Minister ” means the Minister for Education and Science.
	Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1998.	2.— Section 2 of the Act of 1998 is amended, in subsection (1), by inserting the following definition before the definition of “articles of management”:
	“ ‘ Act of 2000 ’ means the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 ;”.
	Amendment of section 13 of Act of 1998.	3.— Section 13 of the Act of 1998 is amended—
	(a) in subsection (3), by deleting paragraphs (a)(ii) and (h),
	(b) by deleting subsection (4), and
	(c) by adding the following subsections:
	“(13) The Chief Inspector, with the consent of the Minister, may delegate the performance of one or more of his or her functions to an Inspector nominated by the Chief Inspector and functions so delegated to such an Inspector shall be performable by him or her accordingly.
	(14) The Minister may appoint an Inspector to perform the functions of the Chief Inspector during any period in which the Chief Inspector is temporarily unable to perform his or her functions, whether because of absence, ill-health or for any other reason, and, for the duration of that period, the functions of the Chief Inspector shall be performable by the Inspector so appointed accordingly.”.
	Amendment of section 29 of Act of 1998.	4.— Section 29 of the Act of 1998 is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1)—
	(i) by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):
	“(c) refuses to enrol—
	(i) a student in a school, or
	(ii) a student to receive instruction on the curriculum through Irish in a school, if that school provides for the teaching of subjects on the curriculum through Irish for some or all of its students, or”,
	and
	(ii) by inserting “, subject to subsection (4D),” after“Department of Education and Science and”,
	(b) by substituting the following subsections for subsection (4) and subsection (4A) (inserted by the Act of 2000):
	“(4) In hearing and determining an appeal under this section against a decision to which subsection (1)(a) or (b) applies an appeals committee shall have regard to—
	(a) the nature, scale and persistence of any behaviour alleged to have given rise to, or contributed to, the decision made by or on behalf of the board,
	(b) the reasonableness of any efforts made by the school to enable the student to whom the appeal relates (the ‘student concerned’) to participate in and benefit from education,
	(c) the educational interests of the student concerned and the desirability of enabling the student as far as practicable to participate in and benefit from education with his or her peers,
	(d) the educational interests of, and the effective provision of education for, other students of the school and the maintenance of a classroom and school environment which is supportive of learning among the students of the school and ensures continuity of instruction provided to students in any classroom concerned and the school,
	(e) the safety, health and welfare of teachers, students and staff of the school,
	(f) the code of behaviour under section 23 of the Act of 2000 and other relevant policies of the school and—
	(i) in the case of that code of behaviour, the extent to which it is in compliance with that section 23 and any guidelines issued under subsection (3) of that section, and
	(ii) in the case of those other policies, the extent to which each of them is implemented, promotes equality of access to and participation in education and is in compliance with—
	(I) any enactment that imposes duties on schools or their boards,
	(II) any relevant guidelines or policies of the Minister,
	(g) the duties on schools or their boards imposed by or under any enactment,
	(h) guidelines issued pursuant to section 22(7) of the Act of 2000, and
	(i) such other matters as the appeals committee considers relevant.
	(4A) Nothing in subsection (4) affects the obligation of an appeals committee to uphold a complaint in relation to the permanent exclusion of a student from a school if the parent of the student or the student, as the case may be, shows that subsection (1) or (4) of section 24 of the Act of 2000 has not been complied with in relation to that exclusion.
	(4B) In hearing and determining an appeal under this section an appeals committee shall act in accordance with such procedures as may be determined from time to time by the Minister following consultation with patrons, national associations of parents, recognised school management organisations, recognised trade unions and staff associations representing teachers, and such other persons as the Minister considers appropriate, and such procedures shall—
	(a) provide that the Secretary General may require one or more of the parties to the appeal to furnish to the committee, within a period specified in the requirement, such information as the Secretary General specifies in the requirement,
	(b) provide that the Secretary General may stipulate, as a condition for the committee proceeding to hear and determine the appeal, that a requirement made of a parent or student by the Secretary General in accordance with procedures under paragraph (a) has been complied with, and
	(c) ensure that—
	(i) the parties to the appeal are assisted to reach agreement on the matters the subject of the appeal where the committee is of the opinion that reaching such agreement is practicable in the circumstances,
	(ii) hearings are conducted with the minimum of formality consistent with giving all parties a fair hearing,
	(iii) the appeal is determined within a period of 30 days (the ‘relevant period’) from—

...