The Minister for Education and Science has taken a legal challenge to a school's refusal to take back a boy it had expelled. The boy was alleged to have seriously assaulted another pupil.
Yesterday, the Minister secured leave from the High Court to seek an order requiring the principal/manager of the school to take all necessary steps to comply with directions to provide a place for the boy.
Mr Justice O'Donovan was told the application for judicial review arose out of the expulsion of the pupil which was notified to his mother in early 2002. The boy's mother sought to institute an appeal under the Education Act.
The school, which is in Co Tipperary, was notified of the appeal. In accordance with procedures, a facilitator was appointed. The facilitator sought to ascertain whether or not the boy could be sent to a different school, but this was not possible.
An appeal hearing took place last September at which the school was not represented. The Appeals Committee upheld the appeal and stated that it believed the boy had a right to return to the school.
The secretary general of the Department wrote to the mother and the school enclosing a copy of the Appeals Committee's determination and asking the mother whether she wished her son to return to the school. She said she did, but the school had effectively refused to comply with the directions.