Education (Welfare) Act 2000

PART I Preliminary and General

1. Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(3) This Act shall, in so far as it is not in operation, come into operation 2 years after the date of its passing.

2. Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1996” means the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996;

“the Act of 1997” means the Youth Work Act, 1997;

“the Act of 1998” means the Education Act, 1998;

“authorised person” has the meaning assigned to it by section 14 ;

F1[…]

“board of management” means a board of management appointed in accordance with section 14 of the Act of 1998 or such persons as are required by subsection (3) of that section to discharge the functions of a board of management;

F1[…]

“child” means a person resident in the State who has reached the age of 6 years and who—

(a) has not reached the age of 16 years, or

(b) has not completed 3 years of post-primary education,

whichever occurs later, but shall not include a person who has reached the age of 18 years;

“educational welfare officer” shall be construed in accordance with section 11 ;

“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include, as respects powers and duties, references to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;

F2[…]

“inspector” means an inspector appointed under section 13(1) of the Act of 1998 and includes the Chief Inspector appointed thereunder;

“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Education and Science;

“national association of parents” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998;

“National Council for Curriculum and Assessment” means the body established by section 39 of the Act of 1998;

“National Youth Work Advisory Committee” means the committee appointed under section 10 of the Act of 1997;

“parent” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“ principal” shall be construed in accordance with section 23 of the Act of 1998, and includes any person (other than a person to whom that section applies), for the time being, performing the functions of principal, in relation to a recognised school, under that Act;

“recognised school” means—

(a) a school designated by the Minister under subsection (1) of section 10 of the Act of 1998 to be a school recognised for the purposes of that Act, or

(b) a school deemed to be a school recognised in accordance with the said section 10;

“recognised school management organisations” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998;

“recognised trade union or staff association” means a trade union or staff association recognised by the F3[Child and Family Agency] for the purposes of negotiations that are concerned with the remuneration, conditions of employment, or working conditions of employees;

“registered medical practitioner” has the same meaning as it has in the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978;

“school day” shall be construed in accordance with regulations under section 25 of the Act of 1998;

“school year” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1998;

“trade union” means a trade union that is the holder of a negotiation licence under Part II of the Trade Union Act, 1941;

F4[…]

“youth work” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Act of 1997.

(2) In this Act, a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is a reference to a Part or section of, or a Schedule to, this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(3) In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision (including the Schedule) in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended.

(4) In this Act, a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended, whether before or after the commencement of this subsection, by or under any subsequent enactment.

3. Regulations.

3.— Every regulation under this Act shall be laid by the Minister before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4. Expenses.

4.— The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.

5. Reports on operation of Act.

5.— The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the end of each of the 2 years immediately following the passing of this Act, prepare a report on the operation, in the preceding year, of this Act, and shall cause copies of each such report to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.

6. Service of documents.

6.—(1) A notice or other document under this Act shall be addressed to the person concerned by name, and may be served on or given to the person in one of the following ways:

(a) by delivering it to the person,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address, or

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, to that address.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a company within the meaning of the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1999, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

7. Offences.

7.—(1) Summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the F5[Child and Family Agency].

(2) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

8. Repeals.

8.— School Attendance Acts, 1926 to 1967, are hereby repealed.

PART II National Educational Welfare Board

9. Establishment of National Educational Welfare Board.

9. — F6[…]

10. Functions of F7[Child and Family Agency].

10.—(1) The general functions of the F7[Child and Family Agency] shall be to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education, and to assist in the formulation and implementation of policies and objectives of the Government for the time being concerning the education of children and, for those purposes, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing—

(a) to promote and foster in society, and in particular in families, an appreciation of the benefits to be derived from education, in particular as respects the physical, intellectual emotional, social, cultural and moral development of children, and of the social and economic advantages that flow therefrom,

(b) to promote and foster, in recognised schools, an environment that encourages children to attend school and participate fully in the life of the school,

(c) to conduct and commission research into the reasons for non-attendance on the part of students and into strategies and programmes designed to prevent it,

(d) to disseminate to recognised schools the findings of research conducted or commissioned pursuant to paragraph (c), and to advise such schools on matters relating to the prevention of non-attendance, and the good conduct of students generally,

(e) to assist recognised schools in so far as is practicable to meet their obligations under this Act,

(f) to advise and assist children and the parents of children who exhibit problems relating to attendance at, and behaviour in, school,

(g) to support, monitor, and assess the effectiveness of, strategies and programmes aimed at preventing non-attendance in recognised schools,

(h) to cooperate with such persons as the F7[Child and Family Agency] considers appropriate, and to coordinate the activities of the F7[Child and Family Agency] with the activities of those persons in so far as they relate to preventing non-attendance in recognised schools,

(i) to carry out reviews of training and guidance given to teachers relating to matters of school attendance and the conduct of students, and to advise the Minister in relation thereto,

(j) to advise the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment as respects those aspects of the school curriculum that, in the opinion of the F7[Child and Family Agency], are likely to have an effect on attendance levels at, or the extent of student participation in, school, and

(k) to advise the Minister on any matter to which this Act relates.

(2) The F7[Child and Family Agency] shall have all such powers as it considers necessary for the performance of its functions under this Act.

(3) The F7[Child and Family Agency] shall, in giving advice or making recommendations to the Minister under this section, have regard to the cost of measures that would have to be taken if the Minister were to take such advice or implement such recommendations.

(4) The F7[Child and Family Agency] may, with the consent of the parent of the child concerned, arrange for a child to be assessed as to his or her intellectual, emotional and physical development (hereafter in this section referred to as “an assessment”) by such person as may be determined by the F7[Child and Family Agency] with the concurrence of the parent.

(5) Where a parent refuses to give his or her consent under subsection (4), the F7[Child and Family Agency] may apply to the Circuit Court for an order that an assessment of the child be carried out.

(6) The Circuit Court may, if satisfied at the hearing of an application under subsection (5) that the child's behaviour, his or her lack of educational progress or the regularity with which he or she is absent from school without reasonable excuse is such that in all the circumstances the carrying out of an assessment is warranted, order that an assessment of the child be carried out at such time, in such manner, at such place and by such person as may be specified in the order.

(7) An application under subsection (5) to the Circuit Court by the F7[Child and Family Agency] shall be made to a judge of the Circuit Court for the circuit in which the child concerned resides.

(8) The F7[Child and Family Agency] may, in the performance of its functions, consult with such persons as it considers appropriate.

11. Educational welfare officers.

11.—(1) Subject to section 37, the F8[Child and Family Agency] may appoint such persons or classes of persons as it considers appropriate to be educational welfare officers for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) shall, on his or her appointment, be furnished by the F8[Child and Family Agency] with a warrant of his or her appointment and when exercising a power conferred by this Act shall, if requested by any person thereby affected, produce such warrant to that person for inspection.

(3) An educational welfare officer shall, in addition to the functions conferred on him or her by this Act, perform such additional functions as may be assigned to him or her by the F8[Child and Family Agency].

(4) The F8[Child and Family Agency] of management, principal, teachers and other members of staff of a recognised school shall give all such assistance as may reasonably be required by an educational welfare officer in the performance by the educational welfare officer concerned of his or her functions.

(5) An educational welfare officer shall, where appropriate, act in cooperation with the persons referred to in subsection (4).

12. Liaison officer.

12.—(1) The F9[Child and Family Agency] shall, for the purposes of ensuring that, so far as is practicable—

(a) the activities of the F9[Child and Family Agency], and those of a relevant authority, in so far as they relate to a function of the F9[Child and Family Agency], are coordinated, and

(b) the policies of the F9[Child and Family Agency], and those of a relevant authority, in so far as they relate to a function of the F9[Child and Family Agency], are consistent,

designate one or more of its officers, not below such rank as the Minister shall determine (who or each of whom shall be known as and is referred to in this section as a “liaison officer”), to liaise with such persons as are designated under subsections (2) and (3), and an officer so designated shall for those purposes, perform such functions as are assigned to him or her by the F9[Child and Family Agency].

(2) A relevant authority (other than F10[the Health Service Executive], F11[an education and training board], the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment or the National Youth Work Advisory Committee) shall for the purposes specified in subsection (1), designate one of his or her officers or a member of his or her staff, as may be appropriate, not below such rank as the Minister shall, after consultation with the relevant authority concerned, determine, to liaise with a liaison officer, and an officer or member of staff so designated shall for those purposes, perform such functions as are assigned to him or her by the relevant authority concerned.

(3) The Chief Executive Officer of a relevant authority (other than a relevant authority to which subsection (2) applies) shall for the purposes specified in subsection (1), designate an officer or member of staff, as may be appropriate, of the relevant authority concerned, not below such rank as the Minister shall, after consultation with the Chief Executive Officer concerned, determine, to liaise with a liaison officer, and an officer or member of staff so designated shall for those purposes, perform such functions as are assigned to him or her by the Chief Executive Officer concerned.

(4) A person designated under this section by a relevant authority shall provide the F9[Child and Family Agency] with such information as to the policies and activities of the relevant authority concerned in so far as they relate to a function of the F9[Child and Family Agency], as the F9[Child and Family Agency] requests or, where the F9[Child and Family Agency] has not requested such information, as the relevant authority considers appropriate.

(5) Subsection (4) of this section does not apply to information in the possession of a member of the Garda Síochána held for the purpose of preventing, detecting or investigating offences, or apprehending or prosecuting persons who have committed, or who are believed by a member of the Garda Síochána to have committed, offences.

(6) For the purposes of this section, each of the following shall be a relevant authority, that is to say:

(a) the Minister for Health and Children;

(b) the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs;

(c) the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

(d) the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

(e) the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands;

(f) the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána;

(g) F10[the Health Service Executive];

F11[(h) an education and training board;]

(i) the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment;

(j) the National Youth Work Advisory Committee; and

(k) such other persons as may be prescribed by the Minister.

13. Directions of Minister.

13. — F12[…]

PART III Educational Welfare and Compulsory School Attendance

14. Register of children receiving education in a place other than a school.

14.—(1) The F13[Child and Family Agency] shall F14[…] cause to be established and maintained a register of all children in receipt of education in a place other than a recognised school (hereafter in this section referred to as “the register”).

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where a parent chooses to educate, or have educated, his or her child in a place other than a recognised school he or she shall, in accordance with this section, apply to the F13[Child and Family Agency] to have the child concerned registered in the register.

(3) The parent of a child who immediately before the commencement of this section is being educated in a place other than a recognised school shall, if he or she wishes the child to continue to be so educated, apply, not later than 3 months after such commencement, to the F13[Child and Family Agency] to have the child concerned registered in the register.

(4) An application under this section shall—

(a) be in writing,

(b) specify the place at which the child receives the education to which the application relates, and

(c) comply with such requirements (if any) as may be prescribed by the Minister or developed by the F13[Child and Family Agency] with the approval of the Minister.

(5) As soon as practicable after an application under this section is received by the F13[Child and Family Agency], the F13[Child and Family Agency] shall, for the purpose of determining whether the child is receiving a certain minimum education, cause an authorised person to carry out, in consultation with the parent who made the application, an assessment of—

(a) the education that is being provided, or that it is proposed will be provided, to the child,