Richard Bruton
Question:247 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools and the number of students on their rolls who now have a school attendance service. [13460/98]
Written Answers. - School Attendance Service.
Richard Bruton
Question:263 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the total number of pupils in the catchment covered by the school attendance service; and the number of school attendance officers and support staff serving them. [13487/98]
Richard Bruton
Question:264 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the most recent occasion on which the Department obtained information on school attendance in the catchments served by school attendance officers; the level of absentees in each area in total and as a percentage of enrolment; and the activity levels of the service in each area, for example, home visits, referrals, warnings, prosecutions and so on. [13488/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos 247, 263 and 264 together.
Responsibility for the enforcement of school attendance legislation rests with school attendance committes in certain parts of Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Cork and Waterford. In all other areas, responsibility rests with the relevant Garda authorities.
The information requested by the Duputy in relation to the level of coverage of the service operated by the school attendance committees and the activity levels involved, is not readily available to my Department. However, the information in question has been sought from the school attendance committees and will be forwarded to the Deputy when received.
I understand that information on levels of absenteeism in individual school attendance areas has not been formally notified to my Department by school attendance officers for some years.
I am satisfied that existing arrangements in relation to school attendance services are inadequate to today's need. My Department is currently engaged in the preparation of draft legislation to deal with this issue. My objective is to bring legislation to Government in the autumn. A key objective of this legislation will be to put appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that children's attendance is properly monitored and that corrective action is taken at an early stage.