School attendance committees are responsible for the enforcement of the School Attendance Act in certain parts of Dublin and in Cork and Waterford. In all other areas the Garda Síochána have responsibility. Consequently figures for school drop out rates are not in the normal course available to my Department.
A review of the operation of the School Attendance Act, including an examination of the roles and responsibilities of the various agencies involved was carried out by officers of my Department recently and I published their report entitled School Attendance/Truancy Report on 8 April 1994.
Some research findings examined for this report indicated that up to 8 per cent of primary school leavers may not transfer to second-level schools at all. The report pointed out that the limited data available may mask cases of severe drop-out rates in schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged areas. The report also points out that the absence of more detailed information is a serious obstacle to a balanced analysis of the issue and it made a number of recommendations in that regard.
I am proposing to make the report a basis for developing my proposals in relation to school attendance with particular regard to the functions that may be appropriate to regional education councils. I am making copies of the report widely available and will be happy to receive the considered views of all interested groups.