Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 496: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children under 16 years who are currently excluded from school and awaiting an alternative school place; her views on whether the National Education Welfare Board is adequately resourced to meet the demands on it at present; her plans to enhance this service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32544/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 provides for an appeal to the Secretary General of my Department where a Board of Management of a school or a person acting on behalf of the Board refuses to enrol a student; suspends a student for a cumulative total of more than twenty days in an academic year; or expels a student from the school. In the year up to 19 September 2007, the number of appeals under S29 of the Act against expulsions is 44 in post Primary Schools and 2 in Primary schools. however,not all students who are excluded by way of expulsion resort to section 29 of the act.

Many children who are excluded from school benefit from the Home Tuition Scheme which provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for pre-school children with autism. A total of 628 children have been sanctioned for Home Tuition in the 2007/08 school year."

The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) as the single statutory 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 that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education.

My Department has adopted a broad-based approach to tackling the issue school attendance. We established the National Educational Welfare Board to monitor attendance and help to get young people back to school. The Board runs promotional campaigns on the importance of attendance and finishing school and provides a service locally through its Education Welfare Officers to parents, children and schools.

In addition to the NEWB there are some 620 staff, within the education sector, deployed in education disadvantage programmes of which over 130 are additional posts allocated under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the action plan for educational inclusion which provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) are preventative measures designed to combat issues of poor attendance and early school leaving. Children at risk of early school leaving are targeted under the School Completion Programme for a variety of extra supports aimed at encouraging them to stay in school. The supports cover both educational and non-educational interventions and are provided during and outside of school time. The Home School Community Liaison Scheme works to involve parents in their children's education which is a crucial component in convincing young people of the value of education. 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.

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 am pleased to advise the Deputy that funding to the Board for 2007 amounted to €9.808 million. 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.

I will be keeping the issue of resources for the NEWB under review in light of the rollout of services, the scope for integrated working and any proposals that the Board may put to me in relation to clearly identified priority needs.