A mother has pleaded guilty to not sending two of her sons to school. Tallaght Children's Court in Co Dublin heard that during the 2005-2006 school year, the older boy, aged 12, attended school 29 days out of a total of 141, while her younger son, aged nine, attended 42 days out of a possible 141.
Judge James McDonnell criticised the National Education Welfare Board for its delay in bringing the case to court.
He said that because of the delay, the children had been deprived of their right to a formal education.
The 31-year-old woman, with an address in Tallaght, pleaded guilty to two summonses that on May 23rd, 2006, she failed to comply with an order made on May 16th, 2006, requiring her to secure the attendance of her two sons at a national school in west Tallaght contrary to Section 25(4) of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000.
Joanne O'Brien, an education and welfare officer with the National Education and Welfare Board (NEWB), said that she monitors school attendance in the Brookview and Fettercairn areas of Tallaght and works with other agencies including the HSE, Barnardo's and the ISPCC.
She said that she had visited the defendant's home 19 times in total.
She said: "Of these 19 visits, six times I spoke to the defendant, five times I spoke to other parties, one time I met an ISPCC support worker and on the remaining seven times, I received no answer from the house."
Ms O'Brien said that during the 120 school days from September 10th, 2006 to March 10th, 2007, the older boy had attended school for just seven days while the younger boy had attended school on 70 days.
She added: "Since the issuance of the notice, the younger boy's attendance has been very good, the older boy has returned to school but his attendance is quite sporadic. The defendant is engaging very well with the NEWB."
Judge McDonnell said: "What does that mean?" Ms O'Brien said that she had engaged the support of an ISPCC worker to work with the family.
Judge McDonnell said: "Why are all the supports necessary? Perhaps you can tell me why he hasn't been attending school. What is the difficulty?" Ms O'Brien replied: "The difficulty with X is that when he leaves the house, he says he's going to school but then doesn't attend school.
"On some occasions his mother would bring him to school and hand him over to the principal."
The judge wondered why this was not being done every day.
Ms O'Brien said the mother had stopped doing it as she felt that she could trust her son.
Judge McDonnell said that there had been a delay in excess of two years in bringing the case to court and asked why there had been such a delay.
Ms O'Brien said the priority of the board was school attendance and the "issuance of summonses is very much seen as a last resort". Judge McDonnell said: "In the meantime, the child is being deprived of a formal education."
The defendant's solicitor, Kevin Tunney, said his client had been in care as a child and that was why she had a difficulty engaging with social workers. She was the mother of five children and added that her brother died in Tallaght Garda station eight years ago and she suffered from depression since then. She was not in contact with the father of her three older children but had limited contact with the father of the younger two.
Judge McDonnell adjourned the case to the end of June for a preliminary report and for a psychological assessment on the older boy with information on the options available.