Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 11 April 2024

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community

Traveller Education Policy: Department of Education

Ms Cliodhna O'Neill:

I might say a quick word on data while Ms Cullen looks for those figures. We published data that is better disaggregated this year for the first time. That was something to which we had committed and we are keen to look at that. We are undertaking a data strategy within the Department and as part of the development of the Traveller and Roma education strategy, we want to be sure that the data we are collecting and publishing is as good as possible and that we are as transparent as possible in the data we have because that also allows us to understand the data we do not have, what else we might collect and what is appropriate to collect. When we are collecting data in respect of children and schools, it is provided on a voluntary basis. Schools usually collect the data at enrolment or pre-enrolment stage. We know that not all schools collect the data but we have verified the data that we do have. The statistics section in the Department is headed by a senior statistician on secondment from the Central Statistics Office, CSO. That section has verified the data against CSO data and we are confident it is as accurate as it can be.

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