Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I will not refer to anything previous speakers have adequately dealt with. Question No. 5 relates to the schools completion programme. I want to protest over the fact that the cut went ahead. Before criticising the Department, in the interest of balance I compliment the Department on the speed with which it responded to the difficulties the Respond! housing agency has with its women's refuge for mothers and children in Tallaght that has been operating for about three years. While I know the Minister was not there, we got a very positive reply to the Topical Issue matter.

I know the Minister is well aware of the value of the school completion programme. Essentially it is trying to keep children who were born on the wrong side of the track in school. A variety of activities and not just principally academic activities are included. The overriding difficulty relates to children who, due to their background or circumstances, fall out of the educational system. The school completion programme is a wonderful scheme that operates throughout the country. I am very impressed by the commitment of school principals, teachers and others who work in the schools. They have made it into something valuable for children, who for a variety of reasons may not wish to go to school. Many of us fell into that category in the past.

When the economy collapses, we all understand there is reduced funding for a variety of things. Unfortunately, this programme was included and over recent years the cut has multiplied. As the scheme is under severe pressure because of the reduction in the funding, I wrote to the Department in the hope that the cut would not proceed, but it has gone ahead. I know a review is outstanding.

My principal point is that while we talk about fairness in education and the school completion programme involves 36,000 children nationwide, the funding for this year has been reduced to approximately €25 million. The level of discrimination in education is exposed by the fact that on the other hand another Department pays out €100 million to 26,000 children of the great and good who attend private schools. For every €1 we give to the poorest children in the country to try to get them to go to school, we give €4 to the children of the better off.