Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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947. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department holds figures on the number of primary school pupils nationally who were placed on reduced school hours during the 2024-2025 academic year; and if she will provide a breakdown by county. [46465/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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948. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of cases where primary school pupils were placed on reduced school hours for the entire 2024-2025 school year; and if she will outline what steps her Department is taking to address such practices, given that reduced timetables are intended to be short-term and exceptional. [46466/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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949. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the monitoring and oversight mechanisms that her Department has in place to ensure that reduced school hours are only used in line with Department guidelines; and if she will outline how compliance is tracked across schools. [46467/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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950. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the assessment her Department has carried out on the educational, social, and emotional impact on children placed on reduced school hours for extended periods; and if she will confirm whether additional supports are made available to such children. [46469/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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951. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions or sanctions available to her Department in cases where schools fail to comply with the guidelines on reduced school hours and maintain children on reduced timetables beyond what is permitted. [46470/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 947, 948, 949, 950 and 951 together.

The position of the Department of Education is that all pupils who are enrolled in a school should attend school for the full day. Where this is not possible for exceptional circumstances this is known as a reduced school day.

A commitment was made to ensure robust data collection on the use of reduced school days and to further ensure that reduced school days are only used in a manner that is limited, appropriate and absolutely necessary. In September 2021, the Department of Education issued Reduced School Day Guidelines to all schools on the procedures to be followed when reduced school days are put in place for students. These guidelines came into effect on 1 January 2022. These guidelines clearly state that reduced school days should not be used as a sanction, offered as an alternative to a sanction, or used as a behavioural management tool.

Reduced School Days or RSD is a transitionary arrangement which should only ever be considered in very limited and time-bound circumstances such as, for example, supporting a student to return to school after a period of absence, or due to a medical or mental health-related condition, or due to other exceptional circumstance and only with the consent of the parent or the guardians. It is designed to assist the student to attend for some part of the school day along with his/her peers, where it is not possible at a point in time for them to attend in a full-time capacity.

The latest available statistics, which are published on gov.ie, show that during the 2023/24 school year TESS received a total of 1,275 first notifications that students from both Primary and Post Primary schools were on a reduced school day. The department is committed to publishing data in respect of reduced school days on an annual basis with the data in respect of the 2024/25 school year due to be published shortly.

The latest available statistics are published at the following link: .

The use of Reduced School Days continues to be monitored by the Department and all services involved continue to work collaboratively and proactively to enable the best outcome for each individual child. Schools are encouraged to seek advice from their local TUSLA Educational Welfare Officer, National Educational Psychological Services psychologist and the NCSE’s Special Educational Needs Organisers so that the right support for each child can be provided. In addition, if any parent feels that reduced school days are being used inappropriately or without their consent they can contact their local EWO, SENO or the Department and this will be investigated.

My Department continues to work closely with Tusla Education Support Service and the National Council for Special Education to ensure that all students are supported to the greatest extent possible to attend for the full school day. Both TESS and the NCSE in conjunction with the department are monitoring the situation to ensure the effective operation of the RSD scheme, and to provide the best outcomes for students, school and parents.

TESS Educational Welfare Officers provide support and guidance to both parents and schools in relation to the use of a reduced school day. In the last year, the department has worked with TESS and the NCSE to enable the streamlining of the notification process with introduction of data sharing agreement between TESS and the NCSE for children with special educational needs. This enables TESS to advise the NCSE directly where a child with special educational needs begins a Reduced School Day. The Special educational needs Organisers (SENOs) in the NCSE then automatically engage with the school where there is a reduced school day to examine how the school can be best supported to allow the child to return to full attendance. This may include the provision of NCSE Advisor support, additional training, teacher or SNA allocation reviews or engagement with other services. Inspectors and NEPS psychologists routinely raise the use of the Reduced School Day during their meetings or inspections in schools.

Other monitoring and oversight arrangements include:

• Consideration of individual case management by relevant bodies in a collaborative way, particularly Tusla and the NCSE and with NEPs input where required.

• The use of RSDs for all students including those with special educational needs continues to be monitored by the Department of Education.

• The provision of information sessions and training aids to schools and parents to assist them to understand the RSD guidelines and share experiences on the effective use of Reduced School Day as a tool to bring children back to full time education.