Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Burke for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I welcome this opportunity to clarify the position of the Department of Education and Skills.

As Senator Burke will be aware, the Cork Life Centre is an out-of-school educational facility in Sundays Well, Cork, which supports young people who are not engaging with mainstream education. The Cork Life Centre was established by the Christian Brothers in 1996, with the assistance of the Holy Faith Sisters to provide education and other supports for young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years who are out of the mainstream school system. The centre prepares young people for the junior certificate and for other education and training pathways. In recent years, a number of young people have completed leaving certificate studies and accessed further and third level education.

The Department's contribution to the funding of the centre commenced in 2000 under the children at risk fund, CAR, and has continued to date to the current level of €47,500 in non-pay funding and 968 teaching hours at a cost of €81,840. This represents an overall annual total of €129,340. With the hours allocated, tutors are employed by the Cork Education and Training Board, ETB, to work in the centre and deliver tuition in subjects across the post-primary school curriculum.

The Minister for Education and Skills is aware that Cork Life Centre is currently experiencing financial difficulties due to a combination of a decision by its main funder, the Christian Brothers, to withdraw direct funding to the centre, and a decision by the centre to expand its enrolment. In this regard, it is important to note that the Department has not reduced its funding or support to the centre in recent years. Rather it has maintained its contribution to the cost of education provision to its current level of just over €129,000 per annum, broken down as I have outlined.

The Minister is also aware that the numbers attending the Cork Life Centre have increased in recent years. The life centre has advised the Department that the number of pupils enrolled in the centre has increased from 11 in 2009 to the current number of over 40 in the current school year. The Minister is advised that the pupil cohort currently attending the Life Centre includes referrals by Tusla's educational welfare and child and family services, the HSE's child and adult mental health service, CAMHS and other health professionals.

As Senator Burke is aware, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which provides educational welfare services is the statutory body with responsibility for the administration of educational welfare functions contained in the Education Welfare Act 2000. These include assisting parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child and ensuring school attendance, participation and retention for all pupils.Tusla is also responsible for the provision of supports for children in the care of its child and family services.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has confirmed to the Minister for Education and Skills that Tusla refers young people to the Life Centre because of their complexity of needs which are not only educational but also social and emotional and because of the multi-disciplinary and holistic approach of the centre. The Minister understands that young people attending the centre have access to a multi-disciplinary team providing counselling and therapy as well as access to an outreach drugs and alcohol worker.

Officials in the Department are currently engaging with the Cork Life Centre, Cork Education and Training Board and the Educational Welfare Service of Tusla to facilitate appropriate future educational supports for the cohort of pupils currently supported by the centre. The Minister has also asked them to seek the involvement of other Tusla services to consider the question of other supports provided by the centre. I will happily relay the Senator's comments to the Minister for Education and Skills.