John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 492: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the figures for the school year 2004-05 of students in schools in Blanchardstown and Castleknock that have been reported to the National Education Welfare Board for missing more than 20 days of school. [3960/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, 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. To discharge its responsibilities, the board is developing a nationwide service accessible to schools, parents-guardians and others concerned with the welfare of young people. For this purpose, educational welfare officers, EWOs, have been 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 service is developing on a continuing basis. The total authorised staffing complement of the board is 94 comprising 16 headquarters and support staff, five regional managers, 12 senior educational welfare officers and 61 EWOs. Towns that have an EWO allocated to them include Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo, Naas, Castlebar, Longford, Tuam, Tullamore, Letterkenny and Portlaoise. In addition, the board will follow up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education. Since September 2005 every county in Ireland is served by an educational welfare service. In addition to the NEWB staff, some 490 staff are in educational disadvantage 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.

As regards the Deputy's question relating to figures for the school year 2004-05, of students in schools in Blanchardstown and Castleknock who have been reported to the National Education Welfare Board for missing more than 20 days of school, my Department has requested the NEWB to respond directly to the Deputy on the matter.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 493: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of educational welfare officers working in the Clondalkin and Lucan area. [3961/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, 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. To discharge its responsibilities, the board is developing a nationwide service accessible to schools, parents-guardians and others concerned with the welfare of young people. For this purpose, educational welfare officers, EWOs, have been 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 service is developing on a continuing basis. The total authorised staffing complement of the board is 94, comprising 16 headquarters and support staff, five regional managers, 12 senior educational welfare officers and 61 EWOs. Towns that have an EWO allocated to them include Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo, Naas, Castlebar, Longford, Tuam, Tullamore, Letterkenny and Portlaoise. In addition, the board will follow up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education. Since September 2005 every county in Ireland is served by an educational welfare service.

In addition to the NEWB staff, some 490 staff are in educational disadvantage 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. As regards the Deputy's question relating to the number of EWOs working in the Clondalkin and Lucan area, the National Educational Welfare Board has been requested to respond directly to the Deputy on the matter.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 494: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of funding allocated to the National Education Welfare Board for the school years 2004-05 and 2005-06. [3962/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, 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 of the board 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 for 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.

In addition to the staff of the NEWB, some 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. The budget allocation for the NEWB is on the basis of the financial not the academic year as requested by the Deputy. The budget allocation for 2006 is €8.15 million, with the allocation to the board having increased by more than 25% since 2004 to support it in delivering on its key objectives.