Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this matter and for speaking about the school completion programme, a very successful programme targeted at children and young people who are at risk of early school leaving. It is targeted at those in danger of dropping out of the education system or those who may have already dropped out. It is a broadly based programme which is cross-community and cross-sectoral. It works between the primary schools and the second level schools and involves the community to ensure the maximum participation by as many people as possible. It generally targets four to 18 year olds who are both in and out of school to ensure the best outcome for them.

The Deputy referred to multi-annual retention plans. The funding under the school completion programme is provided to projects on the basis of multi-annual retention plans drawn up and agreed between the local management committee and the Department of Education and Science.

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