Mr. Patrick Reilly:

Pavee Point thanks the committee for the opportunity to make this statement. I am here to speak about the serious concerns of Pavee Point regarding the impact of the inappropriate use of reduced timetables on Traveller children and to make recommendations to the committee. The overall shocking and poor educational outcomes for Travellers were recently discussed at the committee. According to the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, 13% of Travellers complete secondary education compared with 92% of the settled population. We are concerned that the use of reduced timetables will serve to further reinforce these negative outcomes. Pavee Point has received several reports from Traveller parents about the inappropriate use of reduced timetables. These reports indicate that reduced timetables are being used outside of their original purpose, mainly as a behavioural management tool. However, other than the reports made to us, there is no official documentation available about their use.

It is clear that the use of reduced timetables is having a negative impact on the educational progression of Traveller children as well as a wider impact on their well-being. Parents report worries over children falling behind in their education and being frustrated when they do not understand what is being taught. Parents are not always equipped to support their children, but are expected to cover the hours when their children should be in school.

We have not received an adequate response on this issue from the Department of Education and Skills or Tusla. The question arises as to who is responsible for monitoring the use of reduced timetables. If responsibility lies with the individual school board of management, appropriate structures to ensure that the tool of reduced timetables is not used outside its remit need to be developed.

Pavee Point recommends that the use of reduced timetables be strictly monitored through a defined mechanism. When reduced timetables are implemented, a notice should be sent to the Department of Education and Skills and the National Council for Special Education. The notice must include clear rationale for the reduced timetable's use, its duration, a plan to support the young person to return to the school timetable and the child's age and ethnicity. The notice must be signed by the board of management and have parental consent. Parents must also consent to the data being used to document the use of reduced timetables.

The inspectorate should identify a mechanism to capture the use of limited and reduced timetables when carrying out school inspections, undertake an audit of the application of limited or reduced timetables for Traveller children, and publish its report. The Department of Education and Skills should issue a circular to schools advising that limited or reduced timetables may only be used in very limited and time-bound circumstances, publish disaggregated data on the basis of ethnicity in secondary schools to monitor participation and outcomes of Traveller and Roma students, put in place additional ring-fenced educational supports for Traveller pupils, and provide funding to independent Traveller organisations to advocate for Traveller education needs and address educational inequalities. The Department of Justice and Equality should develop a robust implementation plan for the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy with clear targets, indicators, outcomes and budget lines, particularly to promote the inclusion of Travellers in education. In addition, it should replicate the new Traveller education pilot project throughout the country and ensure it is adequately resourced and sustained into the future.