Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 June 2013
218. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will report on the Education and Welfare Service; the numbers of staff dealing with school attendance cases; the basis and location of staff deployment; the child population served by each office/officer; and the proposals to expand the service to meet unmet need. [30932/13]
View answerWithin the statutory remit of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the Education Welfare Service (EWS) has specific responsibility for the Board’s general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The EWS has a current staffing complement of 74 officers delivering front line services, 2 of whom have distinct duties in relation to the education of children in places other than recognised schools.
I am advised by the NEWB that the EWS worked with over 20,000 children in 2012, of which 2,420 were intensive interventions which required sustained support from an Education Welfare Officer (EWO) and a multidisciplinary approach in order to address the complex barriers to school attendance.
Table 1 below details the existing EWS distribution by location, officer numbers and estimated student population.
The NEWB is in the process of refining and implementing a new strategic approach to service delivery through the integrated working of its three service strands, namely; the Education Welfare Service (EWS); Home School Community Liaison Programme (HSCL – 402 school-based co-ordinators); and School Completion Programme (SCP – €26.456m in funding provided to support 124 school cluster projects and related initiatives). This integrated model of service will provide an enhanced response to the needs of children, families and schools. As part of this process the NEWB is also reviewing the basis on which the EWS was originally configured and a full consultation process is underway with EWS staff and their representatives to reconfigure and optimise service delivery to ensure an appropriate correlation between EWO resources, student population and their needs.
Vacancies that arise in staffing front line services for children and young people at risk of early school leaving are prioritised by my Department in so far as possible working within Government policy on public service numbers and the moratorium on recruitment.
Table 1
|
Regional Office |
Sub offices covered in region |
EWOs |
SEWOs |
Regional Managers |
Estimated Student Population per Regional Office |
|
Dublin City |
Dublin City |
11 |
1 |
vacancy |
80229 |
|
Leinster North / Ulster |
Blanchardstown, Cavan, Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan |
11 |
3 |
vacancy |
187662 |
|
Leinster South |
Tallaght, Bray, Clondalkin, Naas, Carlow, Clondalkin, Kilkenny,Waterford, Wexford |
10 |
3 |
1 |
170193 |
|
Munster |
Cork City, Skibbereen, Limerick, Thurles, Tralee, Ennis |
14 |
2 |
1 |
219761 |
|
West / North West |
Galway City, Castlebar, Sligo, Donegal Town, Longford Town, Athlone, Tullamore, Portlaoise, Mullingar |
13 |
3 |
1 |
179291 |
|
Totals |
30 office locations |
59 |
12 |
3 |
837136 |
