Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Deputy Dowds. His question was not on my list. The number of school leavers increased to 832 this year. They are split between day care services and training places, as anyone familiar with the area will know. To date we have managed to place 673 people and we require placements for 159. Additional funding of €4 million was provided this year for the four different areas based on the populations that have to be accommodated. We are also engaging with Genio, which did a very good job for us last year.

I did not answer Deputy Dowds's question in the first round because I wanted to send a message to service providers. They have done an extraordinary job for people who need a service in this area last year and this year with no additional money. It is unlikely they will be able to recruit, but we are working on it. Both the HSE and the service providers have worked extraordinarily hard in a very short time to ensure we are looking for 159 places. They are always the most difficult. Spaces are used up and it is usually those who have greater challenges, but we are still working on it.