I remember well the debate in this House in 1999 on the Education (Welfare) Act. When introducing the legislation, the then Minister said it would effectively co-ordinate all services directed at children and families with truancy and poor school attendance records. That co-ordination was to involve the integration of early identification and intervention procedures into the normal work of schools. The Minister said it was his intention that a co-ordinated attendance system would operate on a number of levels ranging from general preventative work to more direct enforcement. What we were promised was streets ahead of the creaky, inadequate mechanism which had been in place for many years. It was small wonder that the Bill was generally welcomed in this House and elsewhere. In view of its importance, we had every reason to expect that, once enacted, its provisions would be implemented speedily to allow them to do some good.