Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One primary school child in eight misses more than 20 days in school each year. This number is increasing rather than decreasing. In many cases it leads to disruption for the entire class and not just the child concerned. Three Government databases are involved in school attendance, namely, those of the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs through Tusla; and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, but they do not communicate with each other. Will the Minister sit down with his two colleagues and use a technology tool rather than a 140-year-old legal tool to deal with these 700 families in a way that benefits the child in the first instance, the family and our education and legal systems?

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