Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
611. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of students in primary and post-primary schools reported as absent for 20 or more days in the 2024-2025 school year; the breakdown between casual non-attendance and cases linked to school reluctance or emotionally based school avoidance; if she will provide the figures for each county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39747/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my department and 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 namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme 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.
Under the Act, schools are required to submit a Student Absence Reports (SAR) to Tusla twice a year for those children absent from school for a cumulative total of 20 days or more. The data collected is used to provide statistical reports on school absence for those students aged between 6 and 16 years by the recorded reason for their absence, i.e. illness, urgent, holiday, suspension, other or unexplained. TESS does not collect the reason for absence outside these parameters.
It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to provide an explanation for the absence to the school. Each school must have an attendance policy stating the method by which a parent/guardian provides absence explanations to the school and the procedures that the school employs to follow up on absences.
The latest published school attendance data is the 2023-2024 school year Annual Attendance Report and Student Absence Report available at this link: www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Analysis_of_School_Attendance_Data_2023-24.pdf
The report for the 2024/2025 school year will be published later in 2026.
