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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Feb 2003

Vol. 561 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Education Welfare Officers.

This is a matter of the utmost urgency for the most vulnerable children in our society – I will not say the most vulnerable children in our education system because these children are not in our education system. They are not going to school.

Hundreds of children as young as 12 are roaming the streets all day every day and no one is authorised to intervene. It has been estimated that 3,400 children drop out of school before junior certificate each year. Many of these children will grow up without basic literacy and numeracy skills and with no respect for law or society. These children are in a legal vacuum at present.

Until the Education (Welfare) Act became law, school attendance was the responsibility of school attendance officers, mainly in Dublin and Cork cities, and of the Garda Síochána in other parts of the country. The Education (Welfare) Act transferred this responsibility to the National Educational Welfare Board which was established last year. That board expected to receive a budget of €13 million for 2002 to 2003 which would allow it to appoint 110 welfare officers and ten support staff, to be extended year by year to cover the whole country. The initial phase would involve the transfer of existing school attendance officers to become education welfare officers. The actual allocation is only €3.2 million. Basically, the board has been given statutory responsibility but has not been given the funds to carry out this responsibility.

This is the background to the impasse between the board and the union representing school attendance officers. There is an urgent need for the Minister of State to take a hands-on approach to ensure that this impasse is broken. As it stands, the officers have no statutory powers so while the dispute goes on children roam the streets with impunity. Cases taken to the Children's Court have had to be struck out. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. Huge problems are being stored up for the future. Many of us have heard some of these children being interviewed. We are talking about children as young as 11 or 12 who are not concerned that they are not at school and are happy to roam the streets. Nobody has the power to intervene.

The Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats programme for Government states:

We will ensure that reducing absenteeism and early-school leaving is a core priority over the next five years. The National Educational Welfare Board will begin its work this year and will, in the first instance, prioritise areas with high levels of disadvantage, especially areas contained within the RAPID programme.

Will the Minister of State honestly tell me what level of service can areas with high levels of disadvantage hope for this year or next year? I am sorry the Minister for Education and Science is not here. The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Callely, is here and he is aware from his constituency, as I am from mine, of the number of children not attending school on a regular basis.

I ask the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Mr. Gallagher, who will respond, to spare us the talk about disadvantage and to do something practical about this issue. I hope the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Dempsey, will do something practical about this because we have heard a great deal of talk about disadvantage from him.

I have correspondence from educationalists in my constituency that states that children as young as four and five are chronic non-attenders at school. The report Empty Desks: Positive Approaches to Maximising Attendance in Primary Schools states in regard to absenteeism in a section of my constituency that "45% of the children miss a minimum of 10% of their primary schooling." Surely, if that is the case, welfare officers need to be appointed.

This particular area is a RAPID area. The pro gramme for Government and replies to parliamentary questions have indicated that RAPID will be prioritised. With the funding allocated and the problem encountered by the board, when can children in these areas, and subsequently children in other parts of the country, have this essential service?

I urge the Minister for Education and Science to get off the fence on this issue. He should provide adequate funding to the National Educational Welfare Board and ensure that he breaks the impasse that has left children wandering the streets of our cities while no one has the authority to intervene. Something needs to be done urgently on this issue which has been ongoing for months. Funding is a big part of the problem. It is not acceptable that children who should be at school are not attending.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl don Teachta O'Sullivan as ucht na ceiste seo a ardú ar an Athló. Gabhaim leithscéal thar ceann an Aire Oideachais agus Eolaíochta os rud é nach bhfuil sé ar a chumas bheith i láthair anocht.

I wish to thank Deputy O'Sullivan for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science. All provisions of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 came into force on 5 July last. This Act repeals the previous school attendance legislation and provides for a new infrastructure to encourage and support regular school attendance. Under the Act, the National Educational Welfare Board has been established as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance matters.

School attendance officers, and related senior grades, who were employed by local authorities under the previous legislation, became staff of the board on the 5 July as provided for in the Act. There are 36 such officers in all. Prior to the transfer date there were detailed discussions with the IMPACT union representing these staff in relation to the employment of these officers as educational welfare officers in the new service but agreement was not reached. These staff currently retain the same terms and conditions of employment and are expected to carry out the same duties as heretofore in so far as these are not inconsistent with the new legislation, pending completion of the negotiations. The board met staff in early September 2002 to discuss the transition and written guidance was issued to each staff member in response to a request from the staff in this regard.

It is the wish of the board that these staff are appointed educational welfare officers. In this regard, negotiations between the board, the IMPACT union which represents the staff con cerned and the Department of Education and Science have been under way for some time and have included use of the services of the Labour Relations Commission.

As the Minister for Education and Science has indicated, the negotiations in relation to this matter are ongoing. The welfare board and the Department of Education and Science are anxious that these negotiations conclude successfully in order that this educational welfare service is expanded nationally on a phased basis.

It is also important to point out that the educational welfare service is only one part of the Government's policy to tackle disadvantage in society. The Department of Education and Science also has other initiatives, such as the school completion programme, which complements the work of the educational welfare board in dealing with young people at risk of early school leaving. This school completion programme has built on best practice established in pilot schemes such as the stay in school retention initiative and the eight to 15 year old, early school leaver initiative in supporting the retention of young people in school. The work of this and other programmes are therefore ongoing in the area of early school leaving.

In conclusion, the Minister for Education and Science would like to assure the Deputy that the Department of Education and Science will co-operate fully, with the National Educational Welfare Board to try to ensure the completion of the current negotiations with the staff in order to facilitate the expansion of this national service.

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