John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I agree with the Deputy that early school leaving correlates to those who engage in drug taking, as has been clearly demonstrated. While one can argue figures in whatever way one likes, in recent years on a national level most of the figures indicate that participation rates in second level education in particular have improved. I do not want to go into them in great detail. While that might not have improved as much as we would like, the quarterly national household survey showed that in 2001, some 16.1% of people had not completed leaving certificate examinations. That had reduced to 14.3% in 2006, which indicates the situation is improving.

The Deputy asked specifically what my Department would do to keep children in school. Separate from the Department of Education and Science, most of the projects we run are community-based projects through the task forces aimed at disadvantaged areas where the incidence and the risk are greater. That will continue to be the case.

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