Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 1305: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the extent of the educational welfare service in County Kildare and the proposals to extend it. [25923/05]

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.

The priority that I attach to supporting the NEWB in delivering on this goal is evident from the fact that the budget which has been allocated to the board for 2005 is up by 20% on the 2004 allocation, to nearly €8 million. The service is developing on a continuing basis. The total authorised staffing complement is currently 94, comprising 16 headquarters and support staff, five regional managers, 12 senior educational welfare officers and 61 educational welfare officers (ewos).

In deploying its service staff, the board has prioritised the provision of services to the most disadvantaged areas and most at-risk groups. Five regional teams are in place with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and staff have been deployed in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme. A total of 13 towns with significant school going populations, 12 of which are designated under the Government's RAPID programme, also have an educational welfare officer allocated to them.

County Kildare is currently served by the board's regional team for the south Leinster area. One of the educational welfare officers on this team is based in the Department of Education and Science regional office in Naas, County Kildare.

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. The National Educational Welfare Board is an independent statutory agency and, as such, issues relating to the deployment of service staff are a matter for the Board.