Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 547: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if there is an overlap between the work of the National Educational Welfare Board and the home school liaison; where these overlaps occur; the amount of co-ordination between the two; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24725/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The Education Welfare Act and the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is an important plank in the campaign to keep students at school and provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established under The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance and 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 duties of the EWO would include fostering an appreciation of the value of education, advising schools and parents on school attendance issues and on strategies to promote regular school attendance, dealing with poor attendance or early school leaving case referrals from schools, using a welfare-orientated approach and initiating legal proceedings, under the Act, where appropriate. In particular, EWOs are responsible for children who are at risk and for those who are experiencing difficulties in school. Their objective is to resolve any impediments to these children receiving an education through regular attendance at school. EWOs are also responsible for seeking alternative schooling for those students who have been expelled, suspended or refused admittance to a school.

The Home/School/Community Liaison Scheme is a major mainstream preventative strategy targeted at pupils at risk of not reaching their potential in the educational system because of background characteristics which tend to affect adversely pupil attainment and school retention. The scheme is concerned with establishing partnership and collaboration between parents and teachers in the interests of children's learning. It focuses directly on the salient adults in children's educational lives and seeks direct benefits for the children themselves. Local co-ordinators are assigned to schools in disadvantaged areas to work with school staff, parents and relevant community agencies in advancing the educational interests of children. Under DEIS, the new Action Plan for educational inclusion, HSCL services will be extended to all schools selected to participate in the School Support Programme. The new action plan, which is being phased in from the start of the next school year, places a renewed emphasis on the involvement of parents and communities in children's education in schools.

My Department is anxious to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived from the expertise of these substantial personnel resources. Consequently work is ongoing in my Department to develop appropriate protocols for integrated working between the different services involved. A high level working group comprised of the relevant parties has been established and is currently involved in identifying any areas of common delivery within the services and devising protocols for collaborative working among service delivery personnel. The aim of the protocols is to ensure that the delivery of services is coordinated to achieve maximum benefit for children most at risk.

The Department and the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) will work together to advance the development of protocols ensuring an integrated approach to children at risk is adopted and continued collaboration in delivery of service is achieved.