Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a dedicated section exists in her Department to cater for children deemed to be at risk due to non-attendance at school; the action proposed or intended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10003/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education and Science does not have a dedicated section dealing with the non-attendance of children at school. However under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 the National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, was established as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The NEWB is a statutory agency operating under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science.

The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the NEWB are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. 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, 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 educational welfare officers. 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, 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.

A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. In addition to the NEWB staff there are some 490 staff in education disadvantage programmes whose work involves a school attendance element. My Department is anxious to ensure that 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.

Last year I launched DEIS, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, an action plan for educational inclusion. The action plan aims to ensure that the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed. The new action plan will place a renewed emphasis on the involvement of parents and families in children's education in schools. The Department and the National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, will work together to ensure that an integrated approach to children at risk is adopted.