Leitrim councillor and teacher talks school absences - 'This is why kids end up falling through the gaps'

More children are being referred to Tusla after their schools raised concerns about attendance.

Last year, 9,293 students' cases were raised by education welfare officers after they missed 20 or more days of school, according to the Irish Independent.

This is a 16 per cent rise compared to 2024, when around 8,000 cases were reported.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, the figure was less than 7,000.

READ MORE: Alert: Met Éireann issues ice and snow warning for Leitrim and surrounding counties

Cllr James Gilmartin said the statistics were worrying: "That's a huge amount of kids missing more than 20 days. It's a real indicator of more complex issues that may be going on at home whether that's neglect, poverty or mental health issues; behind each one of those numbers are families and kids that may be neglected."

After the disappearance of Kyran Durnin, in July this year, a Children Missing in Education (CME) team was set up to help find children who are missing from school. "While it's welcome to see the CME created, it's just reactionary because it's just figures. They key thing is prevention. It's a societal issue and TUSLA themselves will need more resources to deal with it as they are under resourced as it is. Oftentimes schools and school principals are taking on these complex social situations and trying to manage them but don't have the skill set sometimes. This is why kids end up falling through the gaps. I feel it's more societal issues that and joined up thinking from start that is needed."

READ MORE: Manchán Magan remembered in participatory artwork at The Dock

Cllr Gilmartin added: "It's important there there are resources to make sure kids are being looked after. In some cases, it's even about attending school, it's about making sure that they're well-being is looked after. Prevention is always better than cure and highlighting high risk situations and although people will fall through the cracks, it's about making sure those cracks are as narrow as possible and there are ways to flag families that might struggling. It's incumbent all of us to do our best to ensure that children are safe."

Tusla also launched an attendance campaign in September 2025, and has developed a five-year action plan to tackle absenteeism by 2028.