Thomas Gould
Question:481. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of home-school liaison support workers in Cork in 2020, 2024 and the number in 2025. [72124/25]
View answerTuesday, 16 December 2025
Questions (481)
Written answers
The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of the key supports provided by my department as part of the overall DEIS programme. Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) manage the HSCL scheme on behalf of my department. The scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.
All DEIS urban primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which currently serves 687 DEIS schools, catering for approximately 207,000 children and young people. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL coordinators assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools.
HSCL coordinators are released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life.
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 four locations with one HSCL coordinator assigned in each location. A further ten HSCL coordinators support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across fourteen non-DEIS post-primary schools.
In the 2020/21 school year there were 40 HSCL coordinators employed across schools in Cork city and county.
In the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years there are 47 HSCL coordinators employed across schools in Cork city and county.