David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, for coming to the House to take this Adjournment matter. I draw to the Minister's attention a project which operates in County Waterford, Ballybeg community education project, which has been in place for many years. It provides a useful and worthwhile service for many young people who live in a so-called disadvantaged area in Waterford. It is a schools completion programme but offers much more. The pupils attend three and four times per week for two to three hours and avail of study support, homework assistance, tutorials for examination year students. It also provides comprehensive youth work programmes, mentoring, career guidance and healthy lifestyle based recreation. It is available for pupils ranging from fourth class in primary to sixth year at second level. The programme provides an excellent service for those young people. I pay tribute to all those associated with the project.

The project is community-based and community-managed. That has been a useful exercise and has worked well up to now. It has received funding through the Waterford schools completion programme which has, effectively, acted as a conduit, with the money coming from the Department. Recently there have been some changes to the project. Those concerned are concerned at the implications for the project and the young people who avail of it. The project is for 55 young people each year and it gives them the supports they need to remain in school. We would all accept that is a worthwhile objective, the funding for which is €60,000 per year. While that is a large sum of money, it is a small amount considering the service provided.

The Department intends to remove the autonomy from the project. Essentially, it is trying to subsume the project into the Waterford schools completion programme. That will result in the disappearance of the community-based element of the programme. The reason the project has been successful is because it is community-managed and community-run and is accountable back to the community and has a community board of management who understand the needs of the young people who live in the community. If the community element and autonomy is removed from the project, those involved would regard that as a retrograde step and ask the Government to consider it.

Given that the project comes within the remit of the overall Waterford schools completion programme, there is a concern about funding because there is no guarantee the project will be funded post September 2012. That is a matter of major concern to those who manage the project and the community individuals involved in helping to run the project and also the young people who have availed of its services. A presentation was given in the audio-visual room by those who manage the project and the community board of management. They spoke of the success of the project, how young people in the community have benefited and of the cost, both socially and economically, of removing the funding of such a project which would be immense. They are asking for two things, first, that the current status, in terms of the community-based element and project autonomy, remains and, second, for some certainty about their funding. They want to provide the service and continue with the successful programme that was put in place. That is obviously desirable both for the community and those who benefit from the programme. I have spoken to many young people who have come through the programme and have benefited. They have gone on to do good work in their community, get jobs and have been successful but they would not have had the opportunity to do so were that programme not in place. It is a form of school completion programme and provides extended services beyond what the national school completion programme provides. It is a different type of project to that although somewhat similar. That is why the people concerned want to keep its autonomy, keep its difference and uniqueness going and have security about the funding so that they can continue.

I ask the Minister to relate these points to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and ask her to communicate directly with the project to ensure there is a satisfactory outcome for all involved.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I am taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald.

Senator Cullinane has had a long involvement with community services in Waterford and I listened carefully to what he had to say. I am therefore pleased to take this opportunity to update the Seanad on the work of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to address educational disadvantage and the provision made for the Ballybeg community education project under the school completion programme, or as it is known generally, the SCP.

I acknowledge the valuable work of Ballybeg community education project. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs recognises the contribution of the project to improving educational outcomes for children at risk of educational disadvantage. The project delivers community-based after-school support to primary and post-primary students. In this respect it shares much in common with other SCP projects, including its holistic educational objectives, a local management structure and a child-centred approach to addressing local needs. It is for these reasons the Department is working to ensure that the services provided can be further consolidated and enhanced within the SCP, under the DEIS framework.

The Government is committed to supporting the educational attainment of children and young people from disadvantaged communities through a variety of formal and informal educational support services. The Department's recently published statement of strategy defines its vision, values and objectives and explains how it will lead the effort to improve outcomes for children and young people. In this regard the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is working strategically to co-ordinate and consolidate its programmes, maximise efficiencies and ensure it works from an evidence base in the interests of children and young people. This involves examining existing services within communities to maximise synergies and efficiencies while, at the same time, minimising the potential for overlap among services which have, in essence, the same objectives.

It is in this context that officials have communicated the requirement to achieve a greater level of local service integration to a range of local projects funded under the SCP, including those in Waterford city. Similarly, officials of the Department have also recently met with the providers of services under the special projects for youth scheme, or SPY, in Waterford. Providers were encouraged to examine their provision of services to ensure the optimum use of the available resources.

As the Senator will be aware, the comprehensive expenditure report identified the requirement for savings of 6.5% per annum over the period 2012-14 in the SCP. As a first step towards identifying efficiencies and other necessary reforms, the Department is working with the National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, and the Department of Education and Skills to complete a review of the programme this year. This review will enhance the process of integrating all SCP initiatives. I apologise, there are so many acronyms for a broad range of items in this script. It is extraordinary how they are invented.

I return to the point I was making. This review will enhance the process of integrating all SCP initiatives within a national approach to attendance, participation and retention under the board's remit. In the present financial climate it is therefore not feasible to ring-fence funding or insulate any project from the necessary reforms. However, it is not expected that there will be any significant adjustments to the programme this year, beyond those measures already communicated to projects.

The NEWB is responsible for the operational management, development and direction of the SCP, along with the educational welfare and home-school-community liaison services. As part of this work the board is assisting projects to enhance the planning, targeting and co-ordination of services. I understand the NEWB has been in contact with projects in Waterford in this regard. The objective is to consolidate the work of local programmes and ensure that evidence-based services can continue into the future on a sustainable basis. Officials from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs have been in contact with the local co-ordinator in Ballybeg and arrangements have been made to meet the project's local management in the coming week. The

Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has requested the chief executive officer of the NEWB. I apologise, this is a serious issue and I would not like anybody to take it that I am not taking it seriously but if I confront another set of initials for an organisation I will probably collapse. They should spell out what they are talking about.

The Minister has requested the CEO of the NEWB to engage with this process to ensure a positive outcome is achieved through a structured and co-ordinated interaction. She looks forward to developments in this regard. I appreciate that Senator Cullinane's concerns in regard to this issue are serious. I will draw to the attention of the Minister the specific comments he made in the Seanad today. In so far as he has concerns about the continuation of the project, I will ensure she communicates with the Senator in that regard.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Shatter, for taking this Adjournment debate and for expressing his support and his intention to bring the information I provided back to the relevant Minister. Of course, in the current climate it is difficult to be asked to ring-fence funding or insulate any project but as the Minister noted, this is a serious issue. This project is providing a very worthwhile service and we have to look at the cost of removing funding from projects of this kind. If the project ceases to exist where do these young people go to get the service they have been getting up to now?

I welcome that the Department has been in contact with the local project co-ordinator and that a meeting will take place in the coming week. I hope this will amount to a good outcome for all involved.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I will ask the Minister to communicate with the Senator following that meeting so that he will be briefed as to where matters stand.