Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of funding the National Educational Welfare Board will receive in 2007; the additional posts this will create; the positive impact this will have in dealing with student absenteeism and related social issues; when the full complement of educational welfare officers will be place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40310/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the Estimates for 2007 for the Department of Education and Science include a provision of €9.8 million for the National Educational Welfare Board. This represents an increase of 20% on the 2006 allocation and of 50% on the 2004 level.

This substantial increase in funding is a clear indication of this Government's commitment to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk. Through increased investment and improved services we are determined to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. The increase in funding for the board will allow it to expand its services further and increase staffing.

Since we formally launched the board in December 2003, the number of staff has increased to 94. The board operates through five regional teams, with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. A service is provided from 26 locations nationwide. Staff are deployed in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme. In addition, the board follows up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education. Educational welfare officers monitor school attendance and work to improve it. They also help parents who are experiencing a difficulty with getting a school place for their child.

Since January 2004, 20,000 cases involving students with reported school attendance difficulties have been resolved by the board. The NEWB has also written to every family with children of school going age advising them of their rights and responsibilities in respect of education and school attendance and where they can get help.

The first national data on school attendance has also been collected and is being used to inform the board's work. With respect to the effectiveness of the service, it is encouraging to note research findings that attendance at school in the areas where EWOs are working intensively improved in 2004-05 compared with the previous year.

The board is currently working on guidelines for schools on developing attendance strategies and the prevention of student absenteeism. Work is also advanced on guidelines for codes of behaviour.

While the NEWB was set up just three years ago, much has already been achieved by the service and the Government is committed to strengthening its role even further.

However, it should be remembered that the board is just one aspect of the comprehensive framework this Government has put in place to improve school attendance and encourage more young people to finish school. In this regard, extra supports targeted at young people in disadvantaged areas include both educational initiatives such as intensive literacy programmes and services such as breakfast clubs and homework clubs.

In addition to the NEWB, there are currently some 490 staff within the education sector with a role in school attendance. Home-school community liaison co-ordinators, in working with parents, promote school attendance and its importance for success in school. School attendance is a central objective of the school completion programme with attendance tracking a core feature and one of its preventative strategies. Access to these services is being increased under the new action plan for tackling educational disadvantage, DEIS.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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The Minister of State stated that the National Educational Welfare Board is but one aspect of a comprehensive number of measures which the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government is taking to tackle issues of educational disadvantage and school attendance. The Minister of State will be aware that the National Educational Welfare Board is the only body statutorily charged with dealing with school attendance issues. Prior to the establishment of the board, the independent Rochford report recommended that at least 300 educational welfare officers were required. The current numbers are less than 100 officers — the last figure I have is 79. The Rochford report recommended that an investment of €25 million, which is approximately €28 million in today's figures, would be required. Last year the Government provided €8 million and it is now providing €9.8 million. While this is a 20% increase, will the Minister of State acknowledge this falls far short of the Rochford report recommendations? When will the full complement of statutorily charged officers be rolled out? Will it be in the lifetime of this Government or ten years down the road?

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Gogarty is under an illusion which I fear will blind him if he ever has the opportunity of entering Government. The Department of Education and Science and the Minister never accepted the Rochford report nor the reasoning in it. I am concerned because we have heard so much from the Opposition benches about value for money. This is a clear indication of any negotiations in any future Government which his party naturally aspires to. I noticed the outbreak of realism on that side of the House in recent times——

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Keeping children in school is a value for money measure.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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When a quango is set up under legislation, the Department has a duty to ensure the taxpayer receives value for money and this is the Government's position and the position which any responsible——

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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It is better value for money than having them in prison.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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——Minister will take. The Rochford report was considered in great detail by the Department of Education and Science. The officers of the Department examined the report and advised the then Minister, the predecessor to Deputy Hanafin, on the merits and demerits of that report. A view was taken in the Department about how the Act should be implemented. I think my reply makes it clear that an amount of progress has been made in implementing this legislation. It is very encouraging to see that welfare officers are making a difference on the ground.

I agree with Deputy Gogarty that important statutory responsibilities are cast on this board as well as important statutory functions such as the power to institute prosecutions where parents fail and are derelict in their duty of ensuring their child attends school. This is a fundamental matter. I note the old school attendance service with a far smaller complement of staff had far more prosecutions before the courts than this board has so far secured. This is not to say the board has not instituted some prosecutions but I make that point that a Department has a duty in legislation of this type to see to it that the work is progressed. The legal responsibilities to which the Deputy refers make reference to the power of the board to institute prosecutions and to exact certain information from the principals of the different schools, both primary and secondary. As school principals have no doubt advised Members on all sides of the House, the board has been assiduous in obtaining that information and in insisting that it be forwarded. This has given the board the first comprehensive data on this subject which is to be welcomed. On foot of this legislation, there is a much clearer picture of the position than ever before. There is a strategy in place, the legislation has been implemented and it forms a basis for progress in this area. I wish to disabuse the Deputy of the idea that the Rochford report was in some way accepted by the Government because it never was. The Government accepts an obligation under the Act and the National Educational Welfare Board has obligations which it is meeting. The Government will continue to support the board. Any fair examination of the provision that has been made and the number of staff now involved which is currently 94, will show a substantial commitment by the Government to the operation of this board.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State for clarifying the Government position on the Rochford report. My party has already stated it will implement the recommendations in full. I am glad the Minister of State says he is not interested in implementing it under current policy because what the Government is implementing is so far removed from the recommendations of the report that there is no comparison. The Minister of State mentioned value for money in terms of what is currently being spent. The Government is delivering value for money because, for example, the ratio of welfare officer to student is 1:12,000, compared to 1:3,000 in Britain. Approximately 84,000 students aged under 16 are missing more than 20 days per year while approximately 28,000 are missing more than 40 days per year. The latter figure equates to approximately 1,000 classrooms full of children. While current expenditure may represent value for money, will the Department invest more money so that we can put more value into the system and ensure that children actually go to school and get an education?

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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To focus on these 90 and the legal responsibilities is to miss the point. That was implicit in my answer to the Deputy. We know what the legal responsibilities are——

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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We know what the circumstances are for children not attending school.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The legal responsibilities include compiling registers and taking prosecutions. The board is also responsible for assisting parents in the preparation of section 29 appeals. The board meets those legal responsibilities. In addition, the board has other responsibilities which are, strictly speaking, not legal ones. These involve helping, advising and guiding parents, and that is important. There are 490 staff employed in the system. An additional 137 individuals are deployed in educational disadvantage programmes whose work involves a school attendance element. I do not know if the Deputy included that when he drew the comparison with British figures. A further 137 are due to come on stream under the DEIS initiative in the coming months.