Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The school completion programme, SCP, continues to deliver a valuable service for some of our most vulnerable young people. Currently, the SCP receives annual funding of €24.7 million.

My Department works with the educational welfare service, EWS, in Tusla to ensure that necessary resources are available to support this programme and to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to deliver a high-quality service for those young people most at risk of early school leaving. However, a number of long-term complex issues continue to exist in regard to the governance and the staffing of the programme.

In recognition of the need for a strong policy platform for educational welfare services, including the SCP, I requested that my officials establish a task group to support the further development and integration of these services. The work of this group is near completion.  As someone with a background in educational welfare, I am eager to ensure the output will result in a clear blueprint for the development of the three strands of the EWS, including the SCP.

A consultation event on the blueprint was held on 10 June, where those working with vulnerable young people as part of the EWS were able to express their views and help shape the policy blueprint prior to its publication. The closing date for the consultations was extended to mid-September at the request of some stakeholders. Some 58 submissions were received and are now being examined. Next steps are being informed by the content of these submissions and action will proceed on that basis with the aim of completion by the end of the year.

As part of the implementation of the actions contained in the blueprint, I have requested that a new SCP scheme be scoped out and developed to ensure that its reach, resources and impact are maximised in supporting young people. My Department has worked closely with colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in regard to the employment status of SCP co-ordinators and project workers and I will continue to examine options in regard to this in the context of the development of this new scheme. 

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