Vol. 555 No. 2
203 Mr. Andrews asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will give details of the interim arrangements to be made under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2002, in circumstances where responsibility for truancy has been transferred from the boards of management of schools to the Education Welfare Board which remains understaffed. [18021/02]
Under the Education (Welfare) Act, it is the responsibility of every parent-guardian to ensure that their child or children attend a recognised school on each day that it is open, or that they otherwise receive a satisfactory education. Schools also have a range of responsibilities in relation to school attendance under the Education (Welfare) Act. Schools had responsibilities in relation to school attendance under the previous legislation, the School Attendance Act.
The National Educational Welfare Board has been put in place, on a full statutory footing, to establish the new educational welfare service. This service is intended to take the focus away from the former prosecutorial approach to a welfare based approach, aimed at assisting children at risk and, in co-operation with schools, parents and other relevant bodies, to provide a range of supports and strategies to discourage absenteeism and early school leaving. The new service, therefore, will be a support for children, young people and schools.
The board is moving ahead with the recruitment of its senior management and head office staff at this time. The new Educational Welfare Service is a major new national service. It is the board's intention and mine that the new service will be in place as speedily as possible.
