Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
575. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of EWOs per education geographical area for each of the following years 2005,2010, 2015,2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. [4363/26]
View answerSince January 2021 Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my department. TESS has three strands namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services, the Home School Community Liaison Scheme and the School Completion Programme.
The EWS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. This 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. Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) work with families and children in a child-centered way to overcome barriers to their school attendance, participation and retention. They also work closely with schools, educational support services and other agencies to support school attendance and resolve attendance problems for the benefit of children and families.
Historic numbers for Senior EWOs and EWOs per education geographical area (by county) are not available due to changes to the EWS structure over the years. As school catchment areas and clusters frequently cross county boundaries, an EWO’s caseload is determined by the needs of children, families and schools.
Senior EWO and EWO Whole Time Equivalents (WTEs) for the years sought by the Deputy are provided in the table below.
|
Year |
WTE number of senior EWOs and EWOs |
|
2005 |
73 |
|
2010 |
85 |
|
Q4 2015 |
68.01 EWO only |
|
Q4 2020 |
109.91 |
|
Q4 2021 |
112.34 |
|
Q4 2022 |
123.69 |
|
Q 4 2023 |
149.26 |
|
Q4 2024 |
152.55 |
|
Q3 2025 |
185.09 |
Most of the data, requested by the Deputy and provided in the table above, is published by Tusla as part of its performance and activity reporting. See: www.tusla.ie/data-figures/2025-performance-data/.
