Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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24. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to address the issue of truancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42147/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) has a statutory remit to monitor school attendance nationally. The latest report on the Analysis of School Attendance Data, which I launched on behalf of the NEWB on the 6th November, is for the 2010 – 2011 school year. This latest data shows a continued improvement in student attendance from 2009/2010 and previous years. The number of school days being missed is at the lowest for the five year period 2006/07 – 2010/11 and while further improvements are required the continued positive trend over recent years is to be welcomed. This evidence demonstrates the positive impact of targeted investment programmes and the progress that can be achieved through the collaborative efforts of schools, parents, statutory and support services.

Within the NEWB, the Education Welfare Service has specific responsibility for the Board’s general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. I am advised by the NEWB that the Education Welfare Service worked with over 20,000 children in 2012, of which 2,420 were intensive interventions which required sustained support from an Education Welfare Officer (EWO) and a multidisciplinary approach in order to address the issues of school attendance. The Education Welfare Service has a current staffing complement of 74 officers delivering front line services. The NEWB is developing Guidelines for schools on the Preparation of Attendance Strategies as outlined in Section 22 of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000. Formal guidance will provide further clarity to schools in terms of responsibilities under the Act but should ultimately provide practical support towards enabling children to maximise their attendance, participation and retention in schools. The Board intends to complete this work within the current academic year.

The NEWB is in the process of refining and implementing a new strategic approach to service delivery through the integrated working of its three service strands, namely; the Education Welfare Service; Home School Community Liaison Programme (comprised of 402 school-based co-ordinators); and School Completion Programme (comprised of 124 school cluster projects involving 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools). This integrated model of service will provide an enhanced response to the needs of children, families and schools. As part of this process the NEWB is also reviewing the basis on which the Education Welfare Service is configured and a full consultation process is underway with staff and their representatives to reconfigure service delivery based upon the needs of children and young people. I see this strategic national approach to attendance, participation and retention as a crucial reform in our efforts to tackle school absenteeism.

The decision by Government to provide for the amalgamation of the NEWB and its services into the new Child and Family Agency upon its establishment will further consolidate the development of services aimed at children and provide opportunities for more effective working amongst the range of professionals involved in such services. The Child and Family Agency will have a specific legislative remit to promote educational outcomes through its existing educational welfare programmes and will work closely with the education sector and families by means of its network of Educational Welfare Officers, the Home School Community Liaison Scheme and the School Completion Programme.