Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. The Department of Education and Skills provides support to two life centres - one in Pearse Street in Dublin and the other in Winter's Hill in Cork. During the past academic year, my Department allocated 2,768 teaching hours to the centres under the co-operation hours scheme operated by the local VECs. This is equivalent to four full-time teachers. Additionally, €114,000 is provided annually to the centres to help meet day-to-day running costs.

Almost 1,000 of these hours and some €50,000 in funding are provided to the Cork Life Centre, which was established by the Christian Brothers in 1996, with the assistance of the Holy Faith Sisters. It caters for approximately ten young people between the ages of 12 and 16 who are out of the mainstream school system. The centre provides a model of high-support educational provision incorporating intensive personal, social and educational support. With the hours allocated, City of Cork VEC employs four tutors who work in the centre and deliver tuition in CSPE, reading, literacy, arts and crafts, woodwork and home economics. The annual grant is used to help meet day-to-day running costs.

Young people are referred to the centre by various agencies including the National Educational Welfare Board, social workers, juvenile liaison officers and parents. Typically, applicants have been out of school for some time, ranging from a few weeks to a few years. The centre prepares young people for the junior certificate, and for life and work as productive and integrated members of society. The centre aims to address a range of needs of the young people - a need for certification, preparation for work, a positive attitude toward society, communication skills, ICT skills and recreational skills.

Alongside the support and funding the Department provides to this centre, it also funds a range of national programmes that cater for early school leavers, such as Youthreach, FÁS community training centres and youth encounter projects. In the city of Cork, the Department funds 100 Youthreach places in four centres through the VEC. The Youthreach programme provides two years' integrated education, training and work experience for unemployed early school leavers with less than upper second level education who are between 15 and 20 years of age. As part of the Youthreach programme, the Department funds the Cork City Learning Support Service which caters for up to 70 young early school leavers aged 12 to 18 years of age. The service provides the junior certificate and some FETAC programmes for learners.

Through FÁS, my Department provides 155 places in three community training centres which address the training and employment needs of early school leavers, primarily aged between 16 and 21. The Department also funds the St. Kevin's youth encounter project in Cork which can deal with up to 25 children aged 11 to 15 years of age. Children are referred to the school by a number of agencies including the court system and they mostly come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, with a multiplicity of problems and issues.

The Government has adopted a broad-based approach to tackling early school leaving. The total provision for educational inclusion programmes in 2012 is approximately €720 million across all levels of education, including early education, primary and second level, further education programmes and third level student support programmes. It also included funding for the NEWB, school completion programme, youth projects and early education, responsibility for which transferred to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2011.

Earlier this year representatives of the life centres met the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. Subsequently, they wrote to my Department to advise that the Christian Brothers, who were the major funders, were planning to cease funding the centres and to request replacement funding for the life centres. This request is being considered by departmental officials and they will be in contact with the life centres in due course. In reviewing the request from the life centres, we need to be cognisant of the budgetary pressures within the Department.

I again thank the Senator again for raising this issue and the Department will endeavour to keep him informed of any developments on the future funding of the life centres.