Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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803. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how many children have been expelled from school in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2025, in national and secondary school, in tabular form; and how many of these had a mental ill health diagnosis or disability. [18906/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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804. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how many children have been suspended from school in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2025, in national and secondary schools, in tabular form, and how many of these had a mental ill health diagnosis or disability. [18907/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 803 and 804 together.

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department. 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 (HSCL) scheme and the School Completion Programme (SCP). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, parents and guardians and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people.

In line with the Act, all primary, special and post-primary schools must report annually on student non-attendance at an aggregated level. This data is collected using the Tusla Portal and published in the Annual Attendance Report (AAR). The AAR includes data on total students suspended and total students expelled at school level.

These reports are published and are available on the Tusla website at the following link, under Analysis of School Attendance Data : .

In relation to students who have been suspended or expelled from school in each of the last ten years, Tusla does not collect data in relation to whether such students have a mental ill health diagnosis or a disability. Since the AAR for the 2013/14 school year, the AARs contain details on the number of students suspended and expelled from special schools.