Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 308: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the protocol, if any, which exists between her Department, the National Education Welfare Board and the Health Service Executive in relation to education for children in care. [29168/10]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) with statutory responsibility to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The remit of the Board was expanded in 2009 to include responsibility for the Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers (VTST), the Home School Community Liaison Service (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP) as well as the National Educational Welfare Service (EWS) under one common management team. The new integrated approach will provide for better targeting of children who are not benefiting from education and it will ensure that these children are properly supported to maximise their educational potential through improved attendance at and participation in school. It also provides new opportunities for enhanced support for parents and families.

The NEWB has a key role in supporting parents and guardians where they are experiencing difficulties with school placement, attendance or participation in school. In addition the NEWB has, in the past, issued information leaflets to parents and run public awareness campaigns to raise the profile of school attendance and related matters. It also operates an Education Helpline to provide information on attendance and related matters.

Frontline staff of the Board are deployed nationally and are a key means by which the Board delivers on its statutory remit. Through its service delivery staff, the Board works with approximately 8,000 children each year, who are reported as having serious school attendance, placement or participation difficulties or who have been expelled from schools. Staff work closely with families, schools and other support services to address the particular issues for each child.

I am advised by the NEWB that on first contact with a family, an Educational Welfare Officer establishes what other statutory and non statutory services are involved. In cases where the Health Service Executive (HSE) has an involvement with a family there is active engagement between EWOs and local and regionally based HSE personnel.

The NEWB also confirms that where there are child welfare protection concerns, referrals and child protection notifications are made to the HSE in line with the NEWB's Child Protection Guidelines.

Under Section 25(8)(b) of the Education (Welfare) Act, there is an obligation on the Board to inform the HSE where a parent* is convicted of failing to ensure that their child attends school. In addition, the Board must also inform the HSE where a parent shows in the legal proceedings that he/she has made all reasonable efforts to cause the child to attend a recognised school. I am informed by the NEWB that these notifications are issued as a matter of course.

Finally, the NEWB is committed to developing protocols with other professional services and agencies that will promote collaborative ways of working to improve attendance, participation and related issues.

The NEWB confirms that it is actively engaged with the HSE in developing national protocols which are aimed at putting in place earlier warning systems, increasing awareness of the role for each agency and resolving any practice issues around frontline services to ensure consistency of approach in supporting children and families.

"Parent" as defined under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, includes a foster parent, a guardian appointed under the Guardianship of Children Acts, 1964 to 1997, or other person acting in loco parentis who has a child in his or her care subject to any statutory power or order of a court and, in the case of a child who has been adopted under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1998, or, where the child has been adopted outside the State, means the adopter or adopters or the surviving adopter;