Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy will be aware of a certain amount of unhappiness on the part of teachers regarding the bureaucracy associated with this matter. Under the Act, schools are required to report on school attendance for the year. This can only occur at the end of the year. Each year, the board receives the schools' reports and conducts a process to correct some of the information provided. For example, some schools include PLC students or make errors in respect of their enrolments. Other schools need to be reminded to submit their returns. The information is then analysed by the Educational Research Centre, ERC, in Drumcondra and further verification is undertaken. The process can take up to one year.

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