Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

263. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current number of full-time equivalent educational welfare officer positions in Waterford city and county; the number of these positions currently vacant; the timeline for filling these vacancies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26711/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS), which includes the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS), is under the remit of my Department since 2021.

The primary role of the EWS is to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a certain minimum education; to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education. Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) are based throughout the country and work with children, young people and their families who are experiencing difficulty with school attendance; this is done through home visits, educational welfare conferences and collaboratively working with different agencies. The main priority of the work is around the educational welfare of children and young people and to ensure that concerns around attendance are addressed before attendance becomes a crisis issue.

There are three full-time equivalent EWO positions in Waterford city and county. All three positions are currently vacant. Following the recent EWO recruitment campaign these three positions have been offered to successful candidates. Two posts have been accepted and are now proceeding through the onboarding process. TESS expects that these two EWOs will take up their positions in the coming weeks. The third post is in the recruitment process.

In the interim, a Senior Educational Welfare Officer (SEWO) and a Duty EWO are currently providing a service to Waterford city and county.