asked the Minister for Justice if the Garda Síochána must under the School Attendance Act prosecute a conscientious parent who, because of the possible danger to health, refuses to send his child to a school condemned by a competent medical authority as unfit for use as such.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Attendance Prosecutions.
The duty of the Garda Síochána is to enforce the School Attendance Act in those areas where the responsibility for enforcement rests on them. It is not their duty, however, to take it on themselves to decide whether, in the circumstances envisaged in the question, the parent has an excuse which is valid in law. Accordingly, I think that it is probable that they would bring proceedings in such a case, thereby leaving it to the court to decide the matter.