John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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190. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of students reported to be missing school due to truancy from 2011 to 2016 in the Dublin mid-west area, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32368/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla' the Child and Family Agency' under the remit of my Department' has a statutory responsibility to ensure each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The education welfare services of Tusla' comprising the statutory Education Welfare Service' the School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison scheme are key supports for children who are vulnerable to early school leaving and educational disadvantage.

As required by Statute' schools must report to Tusla on any student missing for more than twenty days. Schools are required to report on the following categories of absence: illness' urgent/family reasons' suspension' expulsion' transfer' other and unexplained. Statistics regarding the analysis of school attendance data are published on the Tusla website.

Tusla has advised me that it does not collect data on truancy.