Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. While there has not been a cut in funding this year, thankfully, I do understand that some of the interventions such as the summer programmes are not now available for children because of a shortage in the budget. These are children who absolutely need this and I do think that it is regrettable. I applaud the Minister's support for the school completion programme and welcome her vision of what can be done. I acknowledge that it is a very targeted intervention aimed at those school communities that are identified. At this point, it involves 124 projects and related initiatives in 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools, and about 36,000 children are supported. These are identified by local management committees as being at risk of educational disadvantage. This brings me back to my earlier question about the community school in County Kildare that is now at risk. Of its 880 students, some 250 need these extra supports. I do appreciate that the Minister will raise this with the Minister for Education and Skills and with the officials.

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