Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue I want to address this morning relates to education. We would all like school to be an enjoyable, stimulating, challenging and satisfying experience for young people, but that is not the reality for all young people. I refer in particular to those children and young people with behavioural, emotional and psychological problems. They include some children from the Traveller community, children from the new communities and children who live in chaotic families with dysfunction, violence or addiction. Certainly, all of those factors inhibit educational attainment.

What helps to either keep children in school or provide out-of-school work that will compensate or make up for their not being in school? The school completion programmes are central to this, because they target the young people whom I mentioned. The programmes' aim is to keep children in school at both primary and secondary level. There is a range of interventions: in school, out of school, after school and during holiday periods. There are also programmes that target parents. All of the interventions are action-oriented, child-centred and needs-based.

The school completion programme has been operating since 2002. Since 2007, however, those concerned have had to cope with cuts to their budgets, and they also have had to take up the shortfall from the cuts to the national education budget. They are taking on the provision of other services that were cut. An example is bridging the shortfall created by the loss of language teachers, visiting and resource teachers for the Traveller community and resource hours for children with special educational needs. The staff are also providing counselling and educational assessment. There have been cuts in the order of 30% since 2007. How can the staff be expected to provide the professional service they have been providing as well as doing the additional work? Where is the commitment to sorting out educational disadvantage and having a more level playing field in education?

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