More than 84,000 schoolchildren missed school for over a month last year but the group responsible for attendance is grossly underfunded, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.
The chairperson of the National Education Welfare Board, Dr Ann-Louise Gilligan, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science that, if properly resourced, it could "change the face of educational disadvantage in the State".
Later, its chief executive, Mr Eddie Ward, said budgetary pressures meant that nine counties were still not provided with an education welfare officer to monitor school attendance.
Mr Ward said the board, set up last year, would be ready to take parents to court if there was negligence in their children's education. But the board has still to begin any legal proceedings.
The board said it was seeking a €6 million funding increase so it could improve participation in school and reduce absenteeism.
Mr Ward said despite huge growth in education expenditure in the past decade, many young people and children still missed out on their right to an education simply because they missed substantial periods of school.
The additional budget would bring the board's total budget to €12.6 million, representing less than 1 per cent of the total education budget.
A letter from the committee objecting to the closure of St Catherine's Home Economics College at Sion Hill, Dublin, was amended during a private session.
The letter was sharply critical of former education minister, Mr Dempsey. A milder version of the letter was agreed after intervention from Fianna Fáil members.
