Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I agree with the Minister that excellent work is being done through the home-school-community liaison scheme. The Minister referred to increased resources and judging outcomes, as well as the eight separate initiatives currently in place. In the review carried out by the Department of Education and Science, what evaluations were made of each of those initiatives? It is easy to see the outcome derived from providing an extra teacher but the evaluation of some of the other schemes might not be so easy. Obviously, we want to ensure we are putting the best possible initiatives in place in schools.

Under the new action plan, will further early start programmes be set up in the pre-school sector and will any of them be attached to the primary schools now included in the plan, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas? The Minister mentioned the youth work sector. Has she or the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, considered putting Youthreach on a permanent footing? It is still a pilot programme, which is causing difficulties in terms of attracting new teachers and retaining current ones.

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