The majority of students who are expelled or suspended from secondary schools are successfully appealing the decision, new figures show.
School principals and school managers last night complained that the situation was making it impossible for them to impose tough disciplinary action of the kind expected by many parents.
The Department of Education figures show that some 47 students have appealed against their "permanent exclusion" from schools since 2001, but only five were actually expelled.
In other cases, parents managed to overturn the expulsion on appeal or schools were forced to withdraw the expulsion.
There were several other cases where schools agreed to take the student back into the school after ongoing discussions with parents and/or a facilitator.
Most of the cases under appeal involve students who were guilty of persistent breaches of discipline or those suspected of selling drugs in schools. The pattern is similar in relation to appeals against suspension from schools for more than 20 days. The suspensions were upheld in only a quarter of all cases.
The figure are for the two years since 2001 when the new appeals procedures of the Education Act came into force.
Last night, Mr George O'Callaghan, who represents the majority of second-level school managers, said it was becoming "virtually impossible" for schools to expel pupils, even those who were disrupting the life of the school.
Mr O'Callaghan, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body, stressed that schools only moved to expel students as the last resort after all other avenues had been exhausted.
School principals say they are also finding it difficult to impose sanctions. Ms Mary McGlynn, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), said parents often wanted to see schools taking tough action against students guilty of serious breaches of discipline, like drug-pushing. But this, she said, was fraught with legal and other difficulties for schools.
The appeals board was established under the 1998 Education Act. Appeals are usually heard within 40 days of a student's expulsion. The appeal board is usually composed of a Department of Education inspector, a former school principal and a former Department official.
It is expected that the new educational welfare agency will take an increasingly active role in the whole issue of school discipline, and the task of finding alternative schools for unruly pupils, as it expands its service.