Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 14/2018
• Year: 2018

Number 14 of 2018
EDUCATION (ADMISSION TO SCHOOLS) ACT 2018
CONTENTS
1. Definition
2. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1998
3. Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1998
4. Amendment of section 10 of Act of 1998
5. Amendment of section 15 of Act of 1998
6. Amendment of section 23 of Act of 1998
7. Appeals
8. Additional provision in respect of children with special educational needs
9. Admission to schools
10. Amendment of Education (Welfare) Act 2000
11. Amendment of Equal Status Act 2000
12. Repeals
13. Short title, collective citation and commencement
Acts Referred to
Arbitration Act 2010 (No. 1)
Child and Family Agency Act 2013 (No. 40)
Child Care Act 1991 (No. 17)
Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (No. 24)
Education (Amendment) Act 2012 (No. 14)
Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007 (No. 9)
Education (Welfare) Act 2000 (No. 22)
Education Act 1998 (No. 51)
Education Acts 1878 to 2012
Education and Training Boards Act 2013 (No. 11)
Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (No. 30)
Equal Status Act 2000 (No. 8)
Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2015
Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 (No. 43)
Mental Health Act 2001 (No. 25)
Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26)
Number 14 of 2018
EDUCATION (ADMISSION TO SCHOOLS) ACT 2018
An Act to make provision, in the interests of the common good, that a school recognised in accordance with section 10 of the Education Act 1998 shall prepare and publish an admission policy and that such policy shall include a statement that the school shall not discriminate in its admission of a student to the school on specified grounds, and to provide that in certain circumstances the patron or Minister may issue a direction to a board of management in relation to the admission of students to a school and to provide that in certain circumstances the patron may appoint an independent person to comply with such direction, and to provide that in certain circumstances the National Council for Special Education or the Child and Family Agency may designate a school or centre for education which a child is to attend, and to provide an amended appeals process where a student has been expelled or suspended from, or has failed to gain admission to, a school; and to provide that, following a report from the National Council for Special Education, in certain circumstances the Minister may issue a direction in respect of the additional provision of education for children with special educational needs; to amend section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000 in relation to its application to recognised primary schools, to further amend that Act to provide for the application for admission to recognised primary schools by students of minority religions; and for those and other purposes to amend the Education Act 1998 , the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 , the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 and the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007 , and to provide for related matters.
[18th July, 2018]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
		Definition
1. In this Act “Act of 1998” means the Education Act 1998 .
		Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1998
2. Section 2 of the Act of 1998 is amended by the insertion of the following definition:
	“ ‘admission policy’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 62 (inserted by section 9 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018);”.
		Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1998
3. Section 9 of the Act of 1998 is amended—
	(a) in paragraph (i), by the substitution of “under this Act” for “under section 33”, and
	(b) in paragraph (m), by the deletion of “and in particular section 15(2)(d)”.
		Amendment of section 10 of Act of 1998
4. Section 10 of the Act of 1998 is amended in paragraph (f) of subsection (2) by the substitution of “with this Act and such regulations as may be made by the Minister from time to time under this Act” for “with such regulations as may be made by the Minister from time to time under section 33 and with this Act”.
		Amendment of section 15 of Act of 1998
5. Section 15 of the Act of 1998 is amended in subsection (2)(d)—
	(a) by the substitution of “subject to this Act, publish the admission policy of the school” for “publish, in such manner as the board with the agreement of the patron considers appropriate, the policy of the school concerning admission to and participation in the school, including the policy of the school relating to the expulsion and suspension of students and admission to and participation by students with disabilities or who have other special educational needs,”, and
	(b) by the insertion of “inclusion,” before “equality”.
		Amendment of section 23 of Act of 1998
6. Section 23 (amended by section 6 of the Education (Amendment) Act 2012 ) of the Act of 1998 is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):
	“(a) be responsible for the day to day management of the school, including guidance and direction of the teachers and other staff of the school and the implementation of the admission policy of the school, and be accountable to the board of the school for that management,”,
	and
	(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):
	“(b) regulations made under this Act.”.
		Appeals
7. (1) The Act of 1998 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 29:
	“Appeals
	29. (1) Where a board or a person acting on behalf of a board—
	(a) permanently excludes a student from a school,
	(b) suspends a student from attendance at a school for a period or periods totalling not less than 20 school days in a school year, or
	(c) refuses to admit a student to a school, where the decision to refuse admission is due to—
	(i) the school being oversubscribed, or
	(ii) a reason other than the school being oversubscribed,
	the parent of the student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student (each of whom is, in this section and sections 29A to 29F, referred to as an applicant), may, within such period as may be determined in procedures under section 29B, and following the conclusion of any review under section 29C or any appeal procedures provided by the school in accordance with this Act, appeal a decision in accordance with this section and sections 29A to 29F.
	(2) In this section and sections 29A to 29F—
	‘Act of 2018’ means the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018;
	‘annual admission notice’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2018);
	‘applicant’ has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (1);
	‘board’ includes a committee established under section 44 (1) or 44 (7) of the Education and Training Boards Act 2013 ;
	‘oversubscribed’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2018);
	‘school’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2018);
	‘school year’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2018);
	‘special class’ has the same meaning as it has in Part X (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2018);
	‘special educational needs’ has the same meaning as it has in the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 ;
	‘student’ includes a person in relation to whom an application for admission to a school has been made and that person or his or her parents may appeal against a decision to refuse to admit him or her in the same manner as a student or his or her parents may appeal a decision under this section.”.
	(2) The Act of 1998 is amended by the insertion of the following sections after section 29:
	“Establishment of appeals panels and appeals committees
	29A. (1) The Minister shall, from time to time, establish one or more panels of suitable persons (in this section referred to as an ‘appeals panel’) to consider appeals under section 29.
	(2) A member of an appeals panel—
	(a) shall be appointed to the panel for such period as the Minister may determine,
	(b) shall be paid such fees and expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may from time to time determine,
	(c) may at any time be removed from the panel by the Minister for stated reasons, and
	(d) shall be independent and impartial in carrying out his or her functions.
	(3) Where the Minister receives a notice of appeal under section 29, he or she shall establish a committee of 3 members of an appeals panel to consider the appeal concerned (in this section and sections 29B to 29F referred to as an ‘appeals committee’).
	(4) The Minister shall nominate one member of an appeals committee to be the chairperson of the committee for the purposes of the appeal concerned and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson shall have a second or casting vote.
	(5) The Minister may, where he or she considers it necessary to do so—
	(a) prior to an oral hearing in respect of an appeal under section 29(1)(a), (b) or (c)(ii), or
	(b) prior to the examination and determination of an appeal under section 29(1)(c)(i),
	replace a member of an appeals committee (including the chairperson) with another member of an appeals panel.
	(6) The Minister may furnish such support of an administrative nature to an appeals committee as the Minister considers necessary to enable the appeals committee to perform its functions.
	(7) An appeals committee shall act in accordance with procedures determined under section 29B.
	Procedures in relation to appeals
	29B. (1) The Minister may, from time to time, having regard to the principles of...