A father has been jailed and his partner fined after their teenage daughter missed an incredible 164 days from a 167 day school year.
The teenager’s parents appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with failing to ensure she attended school under the Education and Welfare Act.
The case of the girl from the village of Raphoe in east Donegal had been adjourned from a previous occasion.
Judge Paul Kelly had adjourned the case to see if there had been any improvement in the girl’s school attendance.
He had warned the child’s parents that if their child missed any school days in between the court appearances without a medical cert that he would send the girl’s father to jail.
The court heard that the girl had since missed three days from school.
Solicitor for the girl, Mr Niall McWalters, said she had been off school because of an illness which stemmed from an asthmatic condition.
However, no doctor’s medical certificates were handed into court.
The solicitor said he accepted that in the girl’s second year in secondary school she had missed a total of 164 out of 167 days in school.
He added that the situation had improved dramatically and that the girl had just sat her Junior Cert and had expressed a desire to go on and complete her Leaving Certificate.
The family’s solicitor said the girl was described “bright and intelligent” by her teachers.
Members of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency were in court for the hearing.
Judge Paul Kelly said the girl’s parents, who sat at the back of the courtroom, had a responsibility to allow and encourage their daughter to get an education.
“They have a responsibility to their child to make sure she attends school and receives a proper education. This does not mean taking her away for weekends or whatever,” he said
Judge Kelly sentenced the girl’s father to 14 days in prison and fined her mother €500.
However, he deferred the sentence until October to see if the girl returned to school and how the case progressed.