Vol. 543 No. 2
843 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the situation regarding the implementation of the Education Act, 1998; if all the necessary resources have been put in place to give effect to this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26755/01]
The Education Act, 1998, was signed in to law on 23 December 1998. It provides, for the first time, a statutory framework for Irish education at primary and post-primary levels. It was commenced in three parts. The first commencement order was made on 5 February 1999, the second on 23 December 1999 and the third and final commencement order was made on 22 December 2000. All sections of the Act have now been commenced.
Section 1 of the Act provides for the making of a report to each House of the Oireachtas on the implementation of the Act as soon as practicable after the end of the first and second years following enactment. The first such report, submitted last year, provided an outline of the sections of the Act that had been commenced by the end of 1999 and progress in relation to the implementation of those sections. My Department is preparing a second report on the implementation of the Act and this will be laid before each House shortly. The resource implications arising from the implementation of the Act are being addressed by my Department in the context of Government policy to provide for the resource needs of schools.
844 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the situation regarding the implementation of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000; if all the necessary resources have been put in place to give effect to this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26756/01]
On 29 May 2001, I announced the establishment of the new National Educational Welfare Board, which held its first meeting on 15 June 2001. I established the board on an interim or designate basis at this stage in order to enable it to carry out the necessary planning and preparation work for phasing in an education welfare service as provided for in the Education (Welfare) Act 2000.
The board is moving forward with the planning and preparation work which will, among other matters, involve the recruitment of the relevant staff. Negotiations are also under way in relation to the transfer of the school attendance officers to the board, in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
