Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. I am very encouraged that the Minister is saying that supporting school completion will be a big priority of hers in this Government. As we all know, education is a hugely important tool in tackling disadvantage and taking people out of poverty. I am aware that the funding in 2016 was €24.7 million. However, the funding for that programme in 2010 was €31 million per annum and even at that level it was not an enormous figure. It has been reduced in recent years and I know the Minister would agree that these are young people who are among the most at risk in our society and who rely heavily on education in terms of their future prospects. These are some of the most vulnerable children and some of them are currently destined to be failed by an underfunded system. They face enormous pressures that are dissimilar to those faced in many other schools in the ordinary day-to-day classroom setting and they should be funded adequately if we are to get serious about preventing people falling through the cracks. This is a project and funding stream that needs to be expanded on. I am somewhat encouraged by the Minister's comments but it is absolutely essential the funding is increased.

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