Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
820. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education the total number of education welfare officer posts, broken down by local area office; and the number of education welfare officers actually employed, broken down by local area office. [42212/22]
View answerEducational Welfare Officers (EWOs), are employed by Tusla as part of Tusla Education Support Service. EWOs work with children and families in cases where they are experiencing difficulties in relation to school attendance, participation, and retention. The Educational Welfare Service is a statutory service and its primary role is to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a certain minimum education, to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education.
I have been informed by Tusla that a recruitment campaign was completed in August 2022 and that a new national Educational Welfare Officer panel has now been established. All vacant posts have been issued to this panel of candidates. Any vacant EWO posts will be filled as soon as possible thereafter allowing for necessary pre-appointment processes.
The table below outlines the total number of EWO posts and the number of EWOs employed by local area. In addition to the below there are 15 Senior EWO WTE posts nationwide.
My Department has also sanctioned 16 additional temporary EWO posts (not included in the below table) to ensure that the EWS current capacity continues to focus on the general service demands nationally, while ensuring that the educational welfare needs of children and young people arriving from Ukraine can be addressed comprehensively. I have been informed by TESS that these posts are currently being filled using the new EWO panel.
|
- |
Number of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) posts |
Number of EWOs Employed |
|
Carlow |
2 |
2 |
|
Cavan |
1.5 |
1.5 |
|
Clare |
2 |
1 |
|
Cork |
7.8 |
7.8 |
|
Donegal |
1.8 |
1.8 |
|
Dublin |
32.2 |
27.2 |
|
Galway |
6 |
5 |
|
Kerry |
3 |
3 |
|
Kildare |
4 |
1 |
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
1 |
|
Laois |
2 |
2 |
|
Leitrim |
1 |
1 |
|
Limerick |
4 |
4 |
|
Longford |
1.5 |
1.5 |
|
Louth |
3 |
1 |
|
Mayo |
3 |
3 |
|
Meath |
3 |
2 |
|
Monaghan |
1.5 |
1.5 |
|
Offaly |
2 |
1 |
|
Roscommon |
1 |
1 |
|
Sligo |
1 |
1 |
|
Tipperary N.R. |
1 |
1 |
|
Tipperary S.R. |
1 |
1 |
|
Waterford |
2 |
2 |
|
Westmeath |
2 |
2 |
|
Wexford |
3.5 |
3 |
|
Wicklow |
1.5 |
1 |
|
National EWO Team |
5 |
5 |
