Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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In the last few budgets there were cuts to the LINK school completion programme. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will be aware that the service provided under the programme is for the most vulnerable children in the care of schools. It is invaluable for so many young people - young children, in particular - who come from deprived backgrounds, the Travelling community and so forth. The programme should be continued as it allows children aged eight to 15 years an opportunity to complete their education. In some cases, they go on to third level education.

The early school leaving initiative was expanded in 2002 under the school completion programme to include four to 18 year olds. In 2006 the DEIS programme further expanded the school completion programme. The north Kerry school completion programme employs a full-time co-ordinator, two full-time outreach workers and engages the services of third level students to deliver in school, after school, out of school and holiday supports to increase the level of student attendance. The amount of work they have done and the number of children they have saved are very well illustrated in the 2009-14 figures covering a five year school cycle. Some 406 children went through this cycle and the dropout figure was eight. Of these eight students, two were home-schooled, one took up an apprenticeship, two engaged with outreach services, two did nothing, while one left the country. In respect of the 2014 figures, covering a five year period, there were 333 students and the dropout number was 31, two of whom ended up in prison. As a result of the services they had received under the school completion programme, the rest found a meaningful way to contribute to society. Will the Minister continue to fund the programme and assure the House that there will be no cut in the next budget?

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The school completion programme has been one of the successes in the past few years. Retention rates among students from disadvantaged backgrounds are on the increase all the time, mainly due to the support staff in place. However, it is due not only to the teachers in communities but also the funding put in place. The programme has been directed at communities which traditionally have had high school dropout rates. It interacts not only with students but also includes home visits to parents, engages with students during school breaks and includes a number of after-school programmes. School is made more welcoming for students at risk of dropping out.

An examination of the figures shows that higher educational disadvantage levels and school dropout rates have huge social and economic consequences for communities. The number of children living in poverty is on the increase. Approximately 750,000 children live in poverty. The school completion programme is one of the supports which has been put in place to help students to achieve their educational potential and has been a success to date. However, it can only continue to be a success if funding is put in place and maintained. Schools are working on a year-to-year basis; they do not have multi-annual funding, which has an impact on schools.

I implore the Minister to examine the school completion programme which has been moved to his portfolio. It has been a success and has the potential to keep more students in school and give them the tools they need to achieve their educational potential.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. I can assure them that the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, and Deputy Brendan Griffin do not let the opportunity slip by to remind me about the importance of the school completion programme. I am pleased that everyone agrees that the programme operates very well and has been very successful. All of the statistics support that conclusion.

The school completion programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified through the DEIS action plan of the Department of Education and Skills. It involves 124 projects and related initiatives operating in 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools. These projects provide a range of supports and interventions designed to support approximately 36,000 children identified by local management committees as being at risk of educational disadvantage. Typically, projects offer homework clubs, breakfast clubs, mentoring programmes, learning support, social and personal development programmes, out of school supports, including music, art and sports, and a range of activities during school holidays.

Since 1 January 2014, the Child and Family Agency has operational responsibility for the school completion programme, including the allocation of funds to local projects. In 2014 an allocation of €24.756 million was provided for the programme. The agency has indicated a similar allocation for the programme in 2015. It has approved local projects' school retention plans for the 2014-15 academic year. The first two instalments of 2014-15 funding have issued to local projects, with a third instalment planned for May.

The school completion project in the area mentioned by the Deputies comprises three primary and four post-primary schools. I am advised that an amount of €181,959 was allocated by the agency to the project for the school year 2014-15. The amount provided for the 2014-15 period takes account of the savings requirements in the comprehensive review of expenditure 2012-14.

The allocation of funding across the range of interventions planned for young people and between the local schools and the school completion project for the area is a matter for the local management committee.

The Deputies may be aware that a review of the school completion programme by the ESRI is almost complete. The review is an important initiative in planning the programme's future development. It will assist in identifying the reforms necessary to consolidate the programme on a sustainable footing and is being overseen by a steering committee involving officials from the Child and Family Agency, my Department and the Department of Education and Skills. Among other matters, the review will examine the school completion programme's structures and their fitness for purpose to support an integrated approach to addressing early school leaving. It will analyse the interventions provided and make recommendations on evidence-informed supports designed to secure the best educational outcomes for young children. It is envisaged that the review's final report will be delivered shortly.

Recently, the Minister for Education and Skills published an evaluation of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, which was prepared by the ESRI and referred to the school completion programme as an integral support within DEIS for improving attendance and engagement in education.

I have advised the agency of my commitment to ensuring that there is no diminution of the school completion programme, which is an important element of the agency's educational welfare services. It is highly regarded as a key response in securing improved educational outcomes for young people at risk of early school leaving.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat. In particular, the school completion programme provides a service to areas and sectors in society that are less well off, for example, the Traveller community. In north Kerry in my constituency, there are 210 Traveller families. A sizeable number of their children would not be in school were it not for the availability of this programme. It has added benefits for society. For example, after-school services try to help people to keep up with other students. Young people starting out in life are given a great foundation because they can not only compete, but believe that they can compete and be just as good.

The Minister mentioned a figure of €182,000 for the programme in north Kerry. This follows a number of severe cuts in recent years. Is there any possibility of the figure increasing in order to give the programme the added value that is necessary to provide services?

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister's comments on his and his Department's commitment to the school completion programme. It is an important element of the agency's educational welfare services. More than anyone else in the Chamber, the Minister is aware that children from poor socioeconomic backgrounds have lower levels of educational attainment. One of the ways to improve this situation is through education itself, for example, programmes like this one that enable children from such backgrounds to stay in school and achieve their educational potential. This is how we will break the cycle. We have come through tough economic times and the Government needed to make difficult decisions, but we are now being told of a slow recovery and green shoots. Although the programmes in question may be small and do not require large amounts of funding, every cent that is spent on any programme that helps to keep children in school and to achieve their educational potential has a knock-on effect further down the line.

Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent)
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I must ask the Deputy to conclude.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I hope that the Minister will recognise this fact when drawing up budgets.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased that the Deputies across the floor support this programme and understand its value. I do not doubt that the ESRI's report will vindicate that value, although I do not have it as yet. As a republic, what we want is equal opportunity for all of our children and to level the playing pitch for children who are born into socioeconomic disadvantage. I agree with Deputy O'Brien, in that education is a major part of that work. Being able to keep children in school when the odds are stacked against them because of other issues, none of which is of their making, is a job for the Government and a republic that believes in cherishing all our children equally and providing everyone with an equal opportunity. We level the playing field through this programme. It is one that I support strongly.

More generally, the Government set out to do two major things. It promised to fix the economy and to return people to work. The economy is recovering and we have created 90,000 plus new jobs, with more to come. However, these are not ends in themselves. They are measures that we wish to be the basis for having the funds to repair the services that were damaged during the recession and to repair society by offering everyone as good a start as we can. As mentioned during Question Time, the best return on the investment of money and other resources lies in young children. They are our future. They are the most important thing to us.