Principal seeks to bar reports

A Dublin primary school principal has brought High Court proceedings seeking to overturn a decision of the Information Commissioner to release school inspectors' reports to The Irish Times.

Mr Barney Sheedy, principal of Scoil Choilm, Crumlin, claims the release of such reports could lead to the compilation of "league tables" of schools and would have a "chilling" effect on teachers' interaction with school inspectors when the inspectors are preparing their reports.

Mr Justice Gilligan was told yesterday that the Minister for Education, who had initially refused access to the reports, now accepted the decision of the Information Commissioner in that regard.

The legal proceedings arose after The Irish Times applied to the Department of Education for access to reports of inspections of Dublin primary schools. The Department refused access. It also refused access, under provisions of the FOI Act, on grounds that school staff provided information in confidence to the inspectors, and disclosure could prejudice the effectiveness of future inspections.

The Irish Times appealed the Department's refusal to the Information Commissioner. On March 5th, 2003, the Commissioner allowed the appeal and directed that the newspaper could have access, with the exception of references to the principal and staff, to the inspectors' reports on five Dublin primary schools.

The Commissioner also decided that the comments in the reports were of such a general nature that no meaningful comparison could be drawn between the schools.

He also said he considered there was "a significant public interest" in information about schools being available to the public.

At the outset of the hearing of the appeal against that decision, Mr Justice Gilligan directed that the contents of the report on Scoil Choilm should not be published by the media pending the outcome of the proceedings.

Outlining the appeal, Mr Gerard Hogan SC, for Mr Sheedy, said that while the case related only to the report on Scoil Choilm, the proceedings were in the nature of "a test case".

In an affidavit opposing the appeal, Mr David Nutley, of the office of the Information Commissioner, said the Commissioner's decision that the inspector's report did not make any reference to the academic achievements of pupils and would not allow any meaningful comparisons to be made between schools on academic grounds was factually sustainable and reasonable.

Mr Sean Flynn, Education Editor of The Irish Times, said in an affidavit that in seeking the inspectors' reports, the principal issues of concern to The Irish Times did not involve either the personal performance of teachers or staff members or the comparative academic performances of the schools inspected. The hearing continues today.