10.—(1) The Council may—

(a) of its own volition, or

(b) at the request of the parents of a child in respect of whom an education plan has been prepared under section 8(1),

designate the school which a child with special educational needs or, in the case of request under paragraph (b), the child referred to in that paragraph is to attend for the time being and that school shall admit the child as a student upon being directed by the Council to do so.

(2) In making a designation under subsection (1), the Council shall have regard to the needs of the child concerned, the wishes of the child's parents and the capacity of the school to accommodate the child and to meet his or her needs, including that capacity when the school has such additional resources made available to it as the Council recommends to the Minister (which recommendation the Council may, by virtue of this subsection, make).

(3) Where a school is designated under subsection (1) in respect of a particular child, the board of management of that school may, within 4 weeks from the date that the school is informed of the designation, appeal to the Appeals Board against—

(a) that designation, or

(b) a recommendation of the Council, communicated to the school as part of that designation, in respect of the additional resources referred to in subsection (2) to be given to the school.

(4) On the hearing of an appeal under subsection (3), the Appeals Board may—

(a) allow the appeal and, in the case of a designation, cancel the designation and, in the case of a recommendation, cancel, or, as it thinks appropriate, vary the recommendation, or

(b) dismiss the appeal.

(5) On the hearing of an appeal under subsection (3), the burden of proving that a school does not have adequate resources to enable it to meet the needs of the child concerned shall be on the board of management of that school.

(6) If the Council fails or refuses to make a designation under subsection (1) at the request of parents under paragraph (b) of that subsection or fails or refuses to make such a designation of a particular school specified in their request (if such has been specified), the parents may appeal to the Appeals Board against that failure or refusal.

(7) On the hearing of an appeal under subsection (6), the Appeals Board may—

(a) allow the appeal and give a direction to the Council requiring it to designate under subsection (1) a school or, as the Appeals Board thinks appropriate, the particular school specified in the request, or

(b) dismiss the appeal.

(8) If the subject of an appeal under subsection (6) is whether a particular school specified in a request of parents should be designated, the Appeals Board shall cause the board of management of that school to be made a notice party to the appeal and that board shall have the right to make submissions to the Appeals Board in relation to the matter (and subsection (5) shall apply for this purpose as it applies for the purposes of an appeal under subsection (3)); for the purposes of such an appeal the Appeals Board shall require the Council to indicate whether it would, if it were to designate the particular school concerned, make a recommendation of the kind referred to in subsection (2) and if it indicates that it would make such a recommendation, to specify the nature of it.

(9) The Appeals Board shall hear and determine an appeal made under subsection (3) or (6) within 2 months from the making thereof.

(10) The Council shall comply with a direction given to it under this section.

(11) In this section “school” includes a centre for education (within the meaning of the Education Act 1998).