Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2026
180. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures she is taking to address the increased level of absence in schools, particularly in disadvantaged areas, given new research published by the ESRI found that in DEIS urban band one schools, students are missing more than 20-days of school, which is roughly double the number of days missed by students in non-DEIS schools. [11009/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraA key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth is improving school attendance for all students. Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child, who is attending a recognised school, is at school on every day that the school is open, unless there is a genuine reason for him or her not to attend.
Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department since 1 January 2021. TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands: the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, parents and guardians and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people.
TESS has operational responsibility for the HSCL Scheme and the SCP. HSCL coordinators and SCP coordinators and project workers work in partnership in DEIS schools and with the EWS, to provide appropriate initiatives and interventions for children and families to improve attendance, participation and retention.
TESS has developed a five-year plan for school attendance (2023-2028), available to download at: TESS_5_Year_Plan_for_School_Attendance_2023-2028.pdf .
TESS in collaboration with my department developed a series of school attendance webinars for school principals and leadership teams aimed at helping schools rethink and reimagine their approach to attendance. These are available to view on Tusla's website at the following link: https://www.tusla.ie/tess/national-school-attendance-campaign .
In Q4 2025, TESS implemented a national multi-media school attendance campaign, promoting the importance of regular school attendance for all students. A dedicated school attendance support page (www.gov.ie/schoolattendance) was developed and will be updated as appropriate. This dedicated webpage contains information and supports for students, parents and schools around school attendance.
In addition, my Department has provided funding to schools in 2023 and 2025, in the form of an attendance support grant, to assist schools to promote regular school attendance through local needs led initiatives.
TESS has introduced Anseo, a Multi-dimensional - Multi-tiered System of Support (MD-MTSS). Anseo, an actionable attendance tool for schools, is an evidence-based approach to improving school attendance. Using a three-tiered model, schools can identify patterns of absenteeism at the student, class and whole school level and develop nuanced and timely responses to drivers of school absenteeism within each tier. Using the model will enable school leadership to use their school level attendance data to understand the shape of their attendance patterns and to plan appropriate interventions. This approach, which was piloted successfully in four schools in the 2023/24 school year was scaled to a further 60 schools in the 2025/2026 school year. It will shortly be expanded to a further 150 schools. Anseo will be offered to all schools over the next three years. A dedicated ‘Anseo’ team is established in TESS to support the roll out of this model.
