Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is an absolute priority of my Department to ensure that every child in the state has access to a school place that is appropriate to their needs. There are a variety of reasons why a child may be without a school place, such as, children moving school mid-year, family relocating, expulsion and children receiving a place further away than they can travel to.

The Educational Welfare Service (EWS) operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. It is a statutory service. Its primary role is to ensure that every child either attends school regularly, receives a certain minimum education and secures every child’s entitlement to education. Referrals to the EWS may be made throughout the school year and once a referral is made in respect of a child with no school place, it will remain an open until such time as a school place is offered and accepted.

The Home Tuition Grant Scheme provides funding for the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who are unable to attend school. It is provided as an interim measure only for children for whom a placement in a recognised school is not currently available. It is a short term measure, and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a school placement. Within the scheme there are three different categories of home tuition:

Home tuition for children with special educational needs and on medical grounds.

• Maternity-related absences.
• Reasons other than special educational needs and medical grounds - this is in turn broken into two different strands (1) the No School Place (NSP) scheme offers a temporary educational measure for a child who is temporarily without a school place, or without the offer of a school place and who is a actively seeking a place. This scheme provides tuition for a maximum of 9 hours per week for a period of 12 weeks or until the end of the school year or until the child in question receives an offer of a school place, whichever occurs first and (2) the Children in Care scheme is for children in care, who are without a school place due to emergency placement or placement disruption. This provides tuition for a maximum of 6 weeks for a maximum of 9 hours per week. If, following 6 weeks the child is still without a school place, an application for the Department’s NSP scheme may then be made.