No fines have been issued to parents or guardians in Clare for breaches of school attendance law since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eight penalties have been handed down in this county as a result of excessive absences in the past five years.
Under section 24 of the Education Welfare Act, parents can be penalised by Tusla if their child is absent from school for more than 20 days in the year without good reason.
Figures released to Clare FM via a Freedom of Information request show that no penalty has been imposed on parents or guardians in this county for excessive absenteeism since 2019 – that year, just one fine was issued in the West Clare area relating to the absence of a secondary school pupil.
In total, of the eight fines issued here since 2016, six relate to secondary school absences with the other two relating to primary school children being away from the classroom.
Four of these penalties were issued to parents or guardians of students in East Clare and a further four in respect to those with children studying in the West Clare area.
The individual fines imposed ranged from 50 euro to 500 euro.
