Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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321. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of students during each of the last five years for whom the National Education Welfare Board have failed to find school places and the way in which their education was catered for; the number of these students who were excluded from other schools; the number of students who missed eight weeks or more of school time as a result of the length of time taken to find them a place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43043/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Child and Family Agency, established in 2014 under the aegis of my Department, has statutory responsibility to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency is a statutory service supporting regular school attendance for all school age children and young people. Formerly, this service was carried out by the National Educational Welfare Board.

The Agency has advised me that the information the Deputy has sought is not readily available.

Where school attendance problems arise for a child, the Agency concentrates on finding solutions within a collaborative intervention framework involving children and their families, schools and other relevant agencies. This involves an ongoing, evolving and dynamic process of engagement by Educational Welfare Officers of the Child and Family Agency with schools, parents and other support agencies where a child is out of school. The Agency has advised that this work results in a significant level of positive outcomes for children, which is not readily amenable to data-analysis. Given the impact of absence from school on a child's learning, this process is always prioritised within the range of Educational Welfare Officers’ responsibilities. It is a task that is student-focused and solution-driven, sometimes prolonged and sometimes involving short-term or temporary outcomes. The primary outcome sought in all cases is a placement in a recognised school or centre for education.

According to the Agency, there are a number of reasons why a student may not have a school place at a particular time. These may include capacity issues in individual schools or in areas of increasing population and correspondingly high demand for school places. Issues of school capacity generally are a matter for the Department of Education and Skills. Parents have a right of appeal under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 where a school place has been refused and Educational Welfare Officers are frequently and successfully involved in seeking and achieving alternative placements where schools' decisions to refuse enrolment have been upheld.

In cases of expulsion of a student from a school, and where all efforts to resolve matters at school level or through the Section 29 process have failed, there is a statutory obligation on an Educational Welfare Officer to make all reasonable efforts to ensure that provision is made for the continued education of the student concerned. The first solution sought will always be a placement in another recognised school. Temporary solutions may include home-tuition sanctioned by the Department of Education and Skills, in exceptional circumstances. In some cases, where all other solutions have failed, the student may engage in an alternative education programme provided by non-statutory or voluntary agencies or organisations.

The Agency advises that in the case of students who have difficulty in securing a school place and who have a diagnosed special educational need, Educational Welfare Officers work in close collaboration with the Special Education Needs Organisers of the National Council for Special Education, with the National Educational Psychological Service, with the Special Education Section of the Department of Education and Skills and with Special Schools and other specialist support agencies and providers, to identify and put in place effective solutions to the placement needs of such students.