Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister of State accept that this country has a chronic school attendance problem? On the basis of the information he has given the House, albeit three years out of date, one child in eight misses more than 20 school days per year, which is above the statutory amount set out in the Act. Is that acceptable? This year, we will have fewer educational welfare officers than last year directly involved in such cases.

Does the Minister of State believe it appropriate that a woman be given a prison sentence in connection with chronic non-attendance, as happened recently? Does he accept the criticism in the Barnados report, published this week, of the utter chaos in his Department and the relevant agency with regard to directly intervening?

See this speech in context