Ms Caroline Keane:

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked about the engagement or consultation with the parents. I can only speak from my own experience. We run two clinics per week in areas in Limerick with very high early school leaving, with the rate being as high as 46% in one area. This is far higher than the national average of 12.5%. We are dealing with parents who might have had a very poor educational history in terms of their own experience with schools. Ms Hanahoe mentioned that the capacity of parents to engage with the school can also be an issue at times. Yesterday, I met a parent who told me her son has been on reduced timetabling for four months and she does not know the reason why. There is no formal communication around this. It is a practice that has slid into existence but she does not know the reason why. There is no piece of paper - no form or letter. There is no way to appeal this. Sometimes the balance of power is such that she knows that if she does something to challenge or appeal this, the alternative might be a form of suspension or formal exclusion so what she has is almost better than nothing. It is almost as if the parent accepts that this is better than nothing. As Deputy Thomas Byrne said, when a child has the right to an education, better than nothing is not enough. The child has the right to five hours and 40 minutes at primary level or six hours at secondary level. If the child is not getting the capacity to have that education, better than nothing is not enough.

A piece of work must be done around particular areas where, as Ms Hanahoe identified, capacity issues with parents exist. I know there are some pilots running in Limerick. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan and Senator Byrne might be aware of the ones in Corpus Christi school, Moyross, and Le Chéile national school in Roxborough, where they are working to have all those services within the same footprint. The child will enter the early school years and into primary school level and the speech and language therapist and the physiotherapist will be on site. Moreover, all the services the family will need to support that child, including supports for the family, will be on the one site. The instances of "do not attend" or "did not attend" for some of these services were so staggeringly high that they thought they would bring them to the schools and consequently, they are building that footprint in Limerick with the Le Chéile model. I also know that Corpus Christi school, Moyross, is doing a lot of work to support parents in terms of parenting capacity because it recognises that it is not enough to address the issue at the child's level. This is generational. We see generation upon generation in particular areas where early school leaving is part of the fabric of the family and the area in which it lives. That engagement piece is significant in terms of the parents' capacity to support their child. That is a significant issue.

Deputy Catherine Martin raised the length of time and whether there was any measurement with regard to that. Last week, a family came to me whose child entered secondary school and is just about to complete second year but has been on a reduced timetable since the child's second month of first year, so we are looking at two years. The child is going into his junior certificate year having been on a reduced timetable for two years. There is no one particular issue. It is the culmination of lots of different issues. Again, for the parents in this case, it is almost an "it is better than nothing" approach. This child does not have any particular identified need but has disciplinary issues. Home tutoring was suggested as a possible solution to this family but the family consists of two adults and seven children living in a two-bedroom house. How does home tutoring work in that scenario? Where is the capacity to facilitate that? No doubt, that is part of the problem that this child brings to school with him. There is so much overcrowding that he is bringing that to school with him.

There are different layers as to why this practice happens. As for looking exclusively at it on the basis of a child with a disability or a child from the Traveller community or from a particular disadvantaged background, there are so many different layers. Children are now coming to school from hotels and do not have the capacity to go home and do their homework or get a good night's sleep. Homelessness is a significant issue with which we deal in our law centres in Limerick and Dublin. It has a massive impact on a child's ability to complete a full school day.

This relates to the Chairman's question about the data that are collected. This is a critical issue.

There could be other alternative education provisions that could be identified if one knew the basis on which the child was on a reduced time timetable. Issues such as disability or a particular economic or social background might be very evident. Something like hidden homelessness goes under the radar and perhaps a child might need that support because of particular circumstances at the time. That answers the question as to how the data could be used.

On the round-table in Limerick, it was organised locally and invitations were sent through the Limerick citywide children and youth forum, which is made up of representatives of services which support families across the city and county. The Department is not a member of the body. Our hope is we will be able to extend it further. It was a small piece we did last year. Unfortunately, we have limited resources.