Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2017
1167. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide figures on school attendance and participation among Traveller children from 2016/2017 or the latest date available and for all years since 2000. [34511/17]
View answerI am advised by the Educational Welfare Service ( EWS ) of Tusla that they do not gather data specifically on school attendance and participation among Traveller children.
Schools are obliged to notify Tusla EWS where children are absent in excess of 20 days in any school year. This applies to all children attending the school (including Traveller children). Similarly, schools make attendance returns on the pupil cohort in their school, however no specific ethnic or other groups are identified in these returns, rather the data is inclusive of all students attending each school.
