Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of additional education welfare officers to be recruited by the National Education Welfare Board in 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2937/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education.

To discharge its responsibilities, the board is developing a nationwide service that is accessible to schools, parents-guardians and others concerned with the welfare of young people. For this purpose, educational welfare officers, EWOs, are being appointed and deployed throughout the country to provide a welfare-focused service to support regular school attendance and discharge the board's functions locally.

The budget which has been allocated to the National Educational Welfare Board for 2005 is €7.8 million, an increase of €1.3 million or 20% on the 2004 allocation. The percentage increase allocated to the board for 2005 is more than double that for the education vote as a whole and this provision will enable the board to continue to develop its services in 2005.

In November last my Department conveyed approval to the NEWB for the recruitment of a further ten educational welfare officers, bringing the authorised staffing from 84 to 94. These additional posts will enable the board to further rollout its services at local level around the country.

I will be keeping the issue of the NEWB's staffing under review in the light of the rollout of services and any further proposals that the board may put to me in relation to clearly identified priority needs.