Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to the House.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his recent appointment. I do not think I have had an opportunity to do so publicly before now. Last Thursday evening, I attended a meeting with the dedicated people who are involved in school completion programmes in the Dundalk and Drogheda areas of County Louth. We all know about the fantastic service these vital programmes give to children who would otherwise be at risk of dropping out of education. As a former teacher, I have actively witnessed the huge benefit of school completion programmes. Indeed, I attended a summer literacy course that was offered at a national school in the Dundalk area and witnessed the valuable work that was being done there. I commend all involved. The attendance at last Thursday's meeting, which took place at the same time as a huge World Cup match, demonstrated the dedication of the people and how deeply they feel about the whole idea of school completion programmes.

I wish to ask the Minister about the letter they received signalling a proposed cut of 6.5%. In the past five years there have been immense cuts to the school completion programme. We see the importance of DEIS schooling, which is apparent from the recent press statement from the Minister on how DEIS is working and how school completion programmes are helping to assist young people to stay at school. Approximately 1,136 pupils are targeted in the Louth area for the school completion programme, which is vital for them.

I understand the Child and Family Agency has not yet finalised its proposals for funding of school completion programmes. The co-ordinators and educational partners are right to push the issue before it is too late and the proposals are finalised. I contacted the Minister’s office last week, following receipt of the invitation to the meeting, as that was one of the proposals signalled.

If we deal with the situation early and examine the effect of the proposed cuts, the matter can be addressed. I am aware that once the proposal for funding is finalised by the Child and Family Agency, the school completion programmes will then formulate their retention plan or service plan. We have time to address the issue before programmes will be asked to further scale back their services and children are adversely affected, which is what will happen. The valuable after-school, in-school and holiday work that is done will all be affected.

I understand the ESRI is undertaking a review of the entire school completion programme. Will the Minister provide an update on it and when it is expected to be published? I would also appreciate if he would please outline the future policy for school completion programmes and the engagement he had to date with the providers on the issue.

I appreciate there are many considerations and decisions. Those who work in the school completion programme fully understand that cuts had to be made but they must be weighed. I wish to highlight the matter at an early stage when we have time to address the issue before it becomes a much larger problem. We must ensure that we protect DEIS initiatives to provide the best outcomes for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

One point made at the meeting last week is that it costs an average of €90,000 to keep someone in prison. It has been proven that school completion programmes assist in keeping people out of prison. One must take into account the money that we will save in the long run if we invest the money in children and education.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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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.

Mary Moran (Labour)
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I thank the Minister for his response. I am slightly disappointed as I knew exactly what the school completion programmes did. I have all the information. I also received the information in the Adjournment reply, verbatim, in a letter I received from the Minister last week. I do not just speak about Dundalk; I speak about County Louth as a whole, where last week it was reported that between 2010 and 2015 a total of €785,804 has been cumulatively lost to projects. The Tusla mission statement refers to putting the child first. We must put the child first. I plead with the Minister not to proceed with the proposed cut. Why send out letters to people and ask them to work within the current parameter? They could be cut again but nothing has been decided.

That is the reason I raised this issue for debate today as it is relatively early in the year and we have time to put in place provision so everybody will know the position. The Minister said it is hoped the review will be completed by September and that the position will then be known, but we should know the position now in June because national schools are finishing up at the end of the week for the summer holidays. We should be aware of the position in June to know what plans can be made in September and not have to wait until the end of August to find out exactly what will happen. I ask the Minister for a definite answer for these schools in the five areas that have school completion programmes in County Louth and for other schools throughout the country to ensure we have a much clearer picture of the position and can give our children the chance they deserve.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I accept the Senator's point about putting the child first. I also accept her point that investment in after-school projects such as this are, in effect, a long-term investment for the future. I advise her that the Child and Family Agency will continue to work closely with local management committees in County Louth, with schools and with the local school completion programme co-ordinators and that projects such as the one she mentioned in County Louth will be assisted throughout the process. I acknowledge what she said about the timeframe. It is important and timely that we have had the opportunity to discuss this matter in the Seanad this evening in the advance of the new school year plans being set in place to give consideration to the situation in County Louth. I hope through local dialogue between representatives of the Child and Family Agency and the school projects involved that we can meet the requirements of the young people in County Louth.

Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Flanagan for attending the House.