Recently published Economic and Social Research Institute.
26/02/2026
The ERSI findings are very clear:
·Missing 20 days or more per year can result in a gap of over 80 leaving certificate points.
·Missing more than 10 days at age 13 reduces the likelihood of obtaining a degree by age 25 by 16%.
·Chronic absence is strongly linked to higher depressive symptoms, increased stress, poorer physical health, lower life satisfaction and weaker social belonging in early adulthood.
·Approximately one fifth of students now meet the definition of chronic absence.
·The relationship between absence and underperformance is linear and consistent across all social groups.
·Minister Naughton has also publicly acknowledged that even relatively short periods of absence can have lasting impacts on life chances.
Where the State is aware that systematic placement gaps are contributing to chronic absence, and where research (ERSI) now demonstrates the predictable long –term consequences of that absence, the issue becomes not only educational, but one of children’s rights, public health and long term social equality.
