Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to address my query about the Cork Life Centre. I had raised the matter previously with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the reply I received was incomplete, as, unfortunately, I believe she was not provided with the full information on the centre. This centre caters for young people aged between 12 and 18 who have dropped out of the educational system. Many of them have no family support. Some have come to the attention of the centre because of their involvement with drugs or alcohol and given their lack of family support, they are going down a very dangerous road from the point of view of their long-term health and well-being.

The centre was set up with the support of the Christian Brothers and this year they are investing €90,000 in the centre. More than 30 people attend it on a daily basis. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Six of the students sat the applied leaving certificate examinations and eight of them sat the junior certificate examinations. These are young people who are in serious danger. A report earlier this year indicated that 200 young people died over a number of years because the support mechanisms in place were in adequate to look after them. For many of the students, attending the centre has given them the benefit of taking a different route from the one they had been travelling.

At the moment the centre has a full-time manager and it will receive 960 VEC hours which equate to 1.5 teachers. It is getting very little support and yet it is providing vital support services for these vulnerable young people. I understand approximately 18 qualified teachers, who cannot get employment at the moment, work there on a voluntary basis. They give support to these young people on a one-to-one basis. Unfortunately, the Christian Brothers have indicated they are no longer able to provide the funding they have been providing in recent years. We want to ensure a proper structure is put in place for them so that the centre can continue to provide this essential service for these young people with a view to avoiding the tragedies outlined in recent reports from the HSE. I ask for that to be taken on board in the long-term planning for the funding of the centre.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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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.

Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I am somewhat concerned about some of the information in the reply - for instance the reference to the VEC. The 960 VES hours equates to 1.5 teachers in real terms. The VEC has indicated it cannot guarantee that it will be able to provide those hours next year. I am surprised at the 2,768 hours the Minister of State mentioned. I would question that, but I will check it. It is certainly news to me. My understanding is that the Christian Brothers put €90,000 into the centre this year.

The building is also being provided by the order and not by the Department. For more than 13 years I was on the board of management of one of the centres to which the Minister of State referred and which is funded by FÁS. I was chairman of the board of directors for three years and I had six full-time staff. Training was provided for more than 50 people at any one time. The Minister of State's reply refers to people who are aged 15 years and upwards. In fact, it is dealing with people from the age of 12 years and these children are at risk. I ask the Department to ensure a long-term budgetary plan is put in place for this centre because it is dealing with people who are very vulnerable.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Perhaps the reply is badly phrased. The Senator is correct that it refers to 1,000 of the hours being allocated to Cork when in fact 2,768 hours are allocated for the two centres. The centre caters for children aged between 12 and 16 years and that is correct information. I will take the Senator's concerns on board. He will know that the Minister, Deputy Quinn and the operators of the Life centre have been in discussions and it is hoped there will be a positive outcome from that engagement.