Calls for €25m funding for school officers

THE Government has been urged to spend €25 million next year to recruit 148 school attendance staff whose work will help save hundreds of millions of euro in later years.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was set up 18 months ago and will require a staff of 330 to operate fully. It asked for €13m in last year’s estimates to begin recruiting Education Welfare Officers (EWOs).

However, with the 5.4m allocated to it, the board could only employ 70 officers this summer. With an additional 148 staff next year, the board would be able to reach 600,000 (85%) of school-aged children.