Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the full complement of 300 welfare officers will be sanctioned for the education welfare board in order that it can fulfil its statutory duty with regard to school attendance; her views on that body's assertion that it is only intervening in 10% of cases referred to it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10705/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Educational Welfare 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 EWO's and 61 EWO's. Since September 2005 every county in Ireland is served by an educational welfare service.

The Board operates through 5 regional teams, with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. A service is provided from 26 locations nationwide. Staff are deployed in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme. In addition, the Board follows up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education. Educational Welfare Officers play a pivotal role in implementing the service provided by the NEWB through monitoring school attendance and working to improve it. The EWOs also help parents that are experiencing a difficulty with getting a school place for their child.

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. It is anticipated that the outcome of this work will inform my Department on the staffing requirement for the NEWB into the future.

Since January 2004, 20,000 cases involving students with reported school attendance difficulties have been resolved by the Board. The NEWB has also issued an Information Leaflet to every family with children of school going age advising them of their rights and responsibilities in relation to education and school attendance and where they can get help.

The first national data on school attendance has been collected and is being used to inform the Board's work.

In relation to the effectiveness of the service, it is encouraging to note research findings that attendance at school in the areas where EWOs are working intensively improved by 4% in 2004/05 compared with the previous year.

Attendance data relating to the 2005/06 school year is currently being analysed by the NEWB.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department's Estimates for 2007 includes a provision of €9.808 million for the National Educational Welfare Board. This represents an increase of 20% on the 2006 allocation and of 50% on the 2004 level.

This substantial increase in funding is a clear indication of this Government's commitment to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk. Through increased investment and improved services we are determined to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups.

The partnership agreement "Towards 2016" includes provision for an additional 100 posts in total for the NEWB and the National Educational Psychological Service by 2009.

I am pleased to announce that under the 1st Phase of the agreement, an additional 15 staff have been allocated to the NEWB in 2007. These staff are to be deployed mainly in the area of service delivery. The NEWB has agreed that this increase will facilitate the Board in meeting its obligations under the law.

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 achieve their potential and participate fully in education. I will be keeping the issue of the NEWB's staffing under review in light of the roll out of services, the scope for integrated working and any proposals that the Board may put to me in relation to clearly identified priority needs.