Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. She has hit the nail on the head. The problem is that three Departments are involved - her own Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Social Protection. Everyone is passing the buck and saying it is an issue for someone else. The fact is that one in six children in our schools is missing more than 20 days a year and some Minister will have to take a leadership role in relation to that. I urge the Minister to take the lead in relation to this. We can make a significant impact on the issue of truancy in the State by linking up the information collected by the Departments of Education and Skills, Children and Youth Affairs, and Social Protection.

All we ask is that the law is enforced and that where parents fail to send their children to school, they are threatened with the suspension of child benefit payments. That is better than to drag them through the courts and ending up in a situation where children lose a year of school before orders can be made to force parents to return their children to the education system.

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