1374. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Education and Youth the role of Tusla Educational Welfare Services in cases of school refusal is; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62828/26]

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department.

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 namely 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.

The primary role of the EWS 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) are based throughout the country to offer advice and guidance to parents who need support in ensuring that their child attends schools regularly. EWOs work with children, young people and their families who are experiencing difficulty with school attendance; this is done through, home visits, educational welfare conferences and collaboratively working with different agencies. The main priority of the work is around the welfare of children and young people and to ensure that concerns around school attendance are addressed before attendance becomes a crisis issue.

The EWS takes a welfare approach in its interventions, and the work of the EWS is underpinned by the principle that the children and young people and their family are best placed to resolve issues of school attendance with the support of those around them. EWOs meet with the child/young person and their family alongside school staff and other support services to agree a support plan for the child/young person. This plan is regularly reviewed by all involved, with the aim of the child/young person returning to full attendance and engagement in the school community.

TESS has developed a 5-year plan (2023-2028) to improve school attendance nationally. For more information see eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tusla.ie%2Fuploads%2Fcontent%2FTESS_5_Year_Plan_for_School_Attendance_2023-2028.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CHugh_OReilly%40education.gov.ie%7Cc813d4013b9e42f9fa1c08df0905fbfd%7Cf5c0d15a869347e3b506b1617300787f%7C0%7C0%7C639239593449108878%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=AxUIz%2BZddsCadtvykv2nZmxnEvuPXmu4BMSLTLIDEyU%3D&reserved=0 TESS_5_Year_Plan_for_School_Attendance_2023-2028.pdf

Initiatives in the plan include developing school avoidance support for schools, improved data collection and analysis, expansion of the Anseo framework to all schools, research and policy development, attendance initiatives and the continued development of the service delivery of TESS's 3 strands – the Educational Welfare Service (EWS), the School Completion Programme (SCP) and the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme.

If a parent requires advice or guidance at any time, they can contact the local EWS regional office for their area. Contact details are available at the following link: www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/education-and-welfare/