Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
707. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of home school community liaison officers currently employed; the number of schools they work in; and the current cost of employing these officers. [30538/21]
View answer754. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the estimated cost of ensuring there is one home school community liaison teacher for each school that currently has none; and the estimated cost of one for every three and five schools, respectively. [31146/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 707 and 754 together.
The average salary cost for one Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) Coordinator position based on mid point of the salary scale is circa €55,500.
Currently, all DEIS Urban Primary and DEIS Post Primary schools are included in the HSCL Scheme, which serves 523 schools. The scheme is delivered by 415 full-time HSCL Coordinators who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or clusters of schools, catering for approximately 160,000 pupils.
In addition to the above a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy is in operation in 4 pilot locations, (Galway, Wexford, Dublin and Cork) with 1 HSCL assigned in each pilot location. The pilot project supports approximately 50 schools.
In respect of the question posed by the Deputy as to the estimated cost of ensuring there is one home school community liaison teacher for each school that currently has none, as there almost 4,000 schools spread across a wide geographical area it is not possible to provide the breakdown requested without extensive detailed analysis of the feasibility of resource allocation between schools.
