Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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273. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to publicly promote the importance of school attendance, especially for primary school children; her plans to support television and radio campaigns to remind parents across each sector in society that every school day matters; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21934/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department recognises the importance of promoting school attendance and supporting schools to ensure that students attend, participate and are retained in education in order to achieve their potential.

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, families and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people.

The functions of Tusla in respect of school attendance are set out in the Education Welfare Act (2000) and include: to promote and foster, in recognised schools, an environment that encourages children to attend school and participate fully in the life of the school.

My Department works closely with Tusla in respect of Tusla's functions under the Education (Welfare) Act (2000).

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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274. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to amend the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 to ensure that every child who enters the school system has their attendance monitored, irrespective of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21935/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism or early school leaving. The act recognises that alternative forms of education exist for children outside of the ages specified in the act, however, the act sets out that parents must ensure that their children, from the age of 6 to the age of 16/18, at least attend a recognised school, or receive a certain minimum education.

The Act repealed the previous school attendance legislation and provided for the raising of the minimum school leaving age to 16 years, or the completion of three years’ post primary education, whichever occurs later, but shall not include a person who has reached the age of 18 years.

The Education (Welfare) Act also provides that where a parent chooses to educate, or have educated, his or her child in a place other than a recognised school, he or she shall apply to Tusla to have the child concerned registered on the register maintained by Tusla in accordance with the provisions of section 14 of the Education (Welfare) Act.

Under the Act, the principal of a recognised school shall cause to be maintained, in respect of each school year, a record of the attendance, or non-attendance, on each school day, of each student registered at that school.

Furthermore, the Principal of a recognised school is obliged to inform an Educational Welfare Officer of a child’s absence from a recognised school where, a student is suspended from a recognised school for a period of not less than 6 days; where the aggregate number of school days on which a student is absent from a recognised school during a school year is not less than 20; where a student's name is, for whatever reason, removed from the register referred to in section 20 by the principal of the school concerned, or where a student is, in the opinion of the principal of the recognised school at which he or she is registered, not attending school regularly.