Individual teachers may be able to prevent the publication of school inspection reports, according to legal advice prepared for one of the teaching unions.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin plans to publish the reports, which give an overview of school performance, from next April.
Reports on about 500 schools - both primary and second level - will be published every year, under the plan. But legal advice prepared for Paddy Healy, president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, suggests that publication could be deemed unlawful in the courts, as it may violate the rights of teachers.
The department insists that no individual teacher will be identified in the school inspection reports. But teacher unions say some teachers will be identifiable. One source said: "If the report is critical of an Irish or maths teacher, for example, that teacher could be easily identified, especially in smaller schools."
Under the new regulations signed by the Minister on Monday, schools have a right to reply to the report of the inspectors. This response will be published alongside the inspector's report on the Department of Education website. It will also be circulated to parents and others in the school.
Some in the teaching unions say the lack of an independent appeals process for teachers makes the whole regime unlawful.
One said: "A teacher who believes their reputations could be damaged by publication of the inspector's report has no recourse except to the department itself. That cannot be right."
Last night, the Department of Education confirmed that it had received advice on the legality of the new regulations governing publication of the reports. But no potential legal difficulties were identified, the department said. A spokesperson stressed that the new regime would not identify individual teachers and was designed to be fair to all sides.
The department also stressed how any teacher who is unhappy with their school inspection report also enjoys a right of appeal under the Education Act. In all, only five teachers have asked for an appeal under these regulations which allow for a review by a department inspector.
For years the department resisted publication of inspection reports. But Ms Hanafin says publication is now necessary to fill the "information vacuum". So far, the teacher unions have not opposed publication of the reports.
Both the unions and the Minister hope publication of the reports will help stem public demand for school league tables based on exam results.
