Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Finian McGrath's last point. It is one of the issues that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I have discussed, that is, at what point can one start to interact with the school. Many of the children arrive in school with problems that have originated from outside. We must recognise that and look at what the National Education Welfare Board can do. The board cannot do anything in terms of attendance until the child is aged six, when, in fact, the problems are probably gone beyond a possible early-intervention solution. That area and the link between the home and the school, and even the preschool period, are where the warning bells ring, and unless we can intervene at that early stage, the chances of a subsequent successful intervention are diminished.

See this speech in context