Vol. 460 No. 3
353 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education the number of school attendance officers employed to cover the Dublin west catchment area; the reports, if any, there are of high levels of truancy in the area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1107/96]
School attendance officers are employed by school attendance committees in Dublin city, Cork city, Waterford city and Dún Laoghaire. In all other areas, including the Dublin west catchment area, the responsibility for the enforcement of the School Attendance Acts rests with the Garda Síochána.
The absence of reliable data on school attendance and truancy was one of the issues highlighted in the truancy report which was published in April 1994. A special task force was established in my Department last year to: "examine submissions received from interested parties in response to the truancy report" and "to consider and make recommendations as to future action required to address the problem of truancy at first and second level". My Department has received a limited amount of data in relation to nonattendance in the context of its work on truancy. These submissions are being taken into account by the task force in its work. The final report of the task force is expected shortly.
