Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of welfare officers employed by the National Educational Welfare Board; the number of primary schools here covered by an education welfare officer; the number of secondary schools covered by an education welfare officer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38440/05]

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 each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The service is developing on a continuing basis. The total authorised staffing complement is 94, comprising 16 headquarters and support staff, five regional managers, 12 senior educational welfare officers and 61 educational welfare officers. In deploying its service staff, the National Educational Welfare 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. Towns which have an educational welfare officer allocated to them include Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo, Naas, Castlebar, Longford, Tuam, Tullamore, Letterkenny and Portlaoise.

There are 742 post-primary and 3,284 primary schools in the State. The NEWB provides an intensive service in the areas where educational welfare officers are located. All other areas receive an urgent service where the NEWB prioritises children who, for example, are out of school or where no school place exists for them. In addition to the staff of the NEWB, 490 staff are in educational inclusion programmes whose work involves a school attendance element. My Department is anxious to ensure the maximum benefit is derived from these substantial personnel resources. Consequently, work is ongoing to develop appropriate protocols for integrated working between the different services involved.