Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify whether section 21, subsection 9 of the Education Welfare Act (2000) (details supplied) allows individual schools the discretion to come to flexi-school arrangements with parents, similar to those operated in some schools in the UK, whereby a child is homeschooled for a portion of the school week, if such an arrangement is authorised by the school principal and the school principal is satisfied with both the curriculum being delivered at home and the records of said curriculum delivery; and if such an arrangement is authorised at the discretion of the school, if he will further clarify if the school is obliged by the Act to report the homeschool days to the NEWB or does it suffice that the school has a record of these homeschool days. [6249/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The school system operates under standardised arrangements for all recognised schools aimed at enabling them to deliver education in the most efficient manner possible to over half a million pupils at primary level and over 350,000 at post-primary.Section 21(9) of the Education Welfare Act states that 'for the purposes of this section a student shall be deemed not to be absent from school where any period of absence is authorised by the principal and relates to activities organised by the school or in which the school is involved'. This would cover activities off-site such as a school tour or inter-school competitions. It does not include the type of arrangement suggested by the Deputy which I regard as neither feasible or practical.