Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Moran for raising this important issue, with particular reference to her area of Dundalk. I acknowledge the points she made about the importance of the scheme to children in her area.

The school completion programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to generally improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at those school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills' DEIS action plan for educational inclusion. It involves 124 locally-managed projects and related initiatives operating across 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools to provide targeted supports to approximately 36,000 children and young people. There are five school completion programme projects in County Louth with a combined allocation of just over €l million this year.

The programme's project model approach gives local communities the autonomy to devise innovative approaches to address the needs of young people most at risk of early school leaving. The programme is one of three service strands within the continuum of the educational welfare service being implemented by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to support children, their families and schools. The other service strands are the home-school-community liaison scheme and the educational welfare service. The objective is to deliver a strategic integrated approach to school attendance, participation and retention to enhance the support available to children, their families and schools. Local projects work in an integrated way with the agency's educational welfare service strands, and with voluntary and statutory agencies.

School completion programme projects typically provide a range of supports which are delivered at a targeted, whole school or whole class level. They include initiatives where appropriate - in-school, after-school, out-of-school and during holiday periods. The supports include initiatives such as breakfast clubs, homework clubs, after-school supports, mentoring programmes and therapeutic interventions. Projects seek to ensure that schools have in place the appropriate procedures to monitor, identify and respond to attendance, participation and retention issues. They also provide transfer programmes to support young people transitioning from primary to post-primary school.

Since its establishment earlier this year the Child and Family Agency has operational responsibility for the school completion programme, including the allocation of funds to projects within the programme. In 2014, €26.456 million has been made available to the agency for the programme. Individual school completion programme projects are funded in accordance with the academic year, which runs from 1 September to 31 August, thus crossing two financial years. Funding is currently issued in three allocations, typically in September and December with a final drawdown in May. I recognise the importance of the scheme in the Dundalk area, as has been outlined by Senator Moran.

As with all major spending programmes, the school completion programme budget was subject to examination under the terms of the 2011 comprehensive review of expenditure. The process identified a requirement for savings of 6.5% per annum across the programme over the period 2012 to 2014. I am advised that proposals have yet to be formulated by the agency on the funding for school completion programme projects in the coming 2014 to 2015 academic year. As an initial step the agency invited all school completion programme projects to commence planning for the next cycle of the programme within the available funding parameters. The agency has commenced the detailed process of evaluating and approving the 2014-15 school retention plans for individual projects. It is anticipated that the agency will advise projects of the outcome of the process and of their allocations in time for the start of the new school year on 1 September. The agency will continue to work closely with local management committees, schools and local school completion programme co-ordinators to assist projects through the process. The potential for any changes in the funding allocated to the programme in future years is a matter to be considered in the Estimates and budgetary process having regard to the resources available to Government.

The Senator will wish to note that an operational review of the school completion programme has commenced. The objectives of the review are to identify best practice in supporting school retention, to clarify roles and responsibilities and to build upon the valuable learning and experience to date across the programme. It is anticipated that the review will assist in identifying the reforms necessary to consolidate the programme on a sustainable footing for the future and ensure that available funds are targeted to those services which provide the greatest contribution to educational outcomes for young people at risk of educational disadvantage.