John Dennehy (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 648: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she is satisfied that sufficient measures are being taken to reduce truancy rates in schools; her views on the increasing trend for teenagers to take up part time jobs during the school week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34585/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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This government is determined to do all that is possible to ensure that every child gets all the opportunities and support they need to enable them to complete their education.

Measures designed to improve school attendance include the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board, under the Education Welfare Act, in 2002 with a remit to monitor school attendance, help parents to get a school place for their child and run promotional campaigns on the importance of attendance and finishing school. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving.

The Board is developing a nationwide service, on a continuing basis 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 deployed throughout the country to provide a welfare-focused service to support regular school attendance and discharge the Board's functions locally.

The total authorised staffing complement of the Board is 94 comprising 16 HQ and support staff, 5 regional managers, 12 Senior EWOs and 61 EWOs. Five regional teams are in place with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. In deploying its service staff, the NEWB has prioritised the provision of services to the most disadvantaged areas and the most at-risk groups. This deployment includes areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme where an intensive full level of service is provided. In addition the NEWB has established the country's first national educational helpline which is manned by trained Educational Welfare Officers and provides practical help to parents and schools on educational issues including attendance.

In areas of disadvantage the School Support Programme under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion will bring together, and build upon, a number of existing interventions in schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. The new action plan is being introduced on a phased basis, starting during the current school year. It will involve an additional annual investment of €40m on full implementation. Under DEIS a key component of the work of the Home/School/Community Liaison Co-ordinator is promoting school attendance to parents while the School Completion Programme fosters the development of strong links between primary and post-primary schools to assist pupils with the transfer to and retention at second-level.

In addition to the NEWB personnel there are some 490 staff, within the education sector, deployed in education disadvantage programmes whose work involves an element of school attendance and significant scope exists for integrated working between these personnel and Educational Welfare Officers. 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 all agencies and services to work together in collaboration and to ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed including NEWB resources.

Under the terms of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, one of the functions of the Board is to conduct and commission research into the reasons for non-attendance on the part of students and into the strategies and programmes designed to prevent it.

Ongoing research includes developments on Codes of Behaviour and Attendance Strategies for Schools. One research project currently under way will inform guidelines for schools on developing strategies on attendance and these will include the issue of truancy.

Part-time working while at school is not of itself a negative thing and there is protection for young people under the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996 which precludes young people, between the ages of 16 and 18 and who are still at school, from working after 10pm on any night when there is school the following day. The experience gained by young people can prepare them for the transition into the full-time labour market and facilitate access to better paid employment in the longer term. It is desirable to strike a balance that facilitates study and work while recognising the skills acquired by young people in their part-time work.