A father has been given a one-month jail sentence and his wife was fined €1,000 today after a judge heard their child missed at least 243 days of primary school over three years.

More official warnings than ever before were sent last year to parents about their children failing to attend school — but only a handful were convicted.

IN all but the most exceptional cases, facilitating a child’s non-attendance at school is, like a diet centred on junk food, a form of child abuse and should be treated as such.