Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly.

Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for attending. The matter is self-explanatory - the need for the Minister to confirm that funding for the schools completion programme will not be cut in County Clare or any other county and to consider increasing the funding for this valuable service for children which was established in 2002. The programme has had a significant positive impact on the retention levels of young people in primary and second level schools and the numbers of pupils who successfully complete the different cycles or their equivalent.

Another of my concerns is the teams and their understanding of whether funding is to be cut and their role in the future. As in the past, I rarely speak unless I know the people who are administering and delivering a service. To give them their Christian names, I know Áine and Catherine and the level of work they undertake to ensure vulnerable children - probably the best words to use - come to school every day and receive an education with the best possible support. We must have people like them in the school completion service. I am sure there are many others like them throughout the country who seek to ensure the service is delivered. I am aware of two children who, as recently as last week, had to be helped and encouraged into school to start their examinations. Nine times out of ten the staff go beyond the call of duty. It is not always a nine to three job, as a great deal more work is involved. We heard a comprehensive presentation recently in Ennis, but I already had an understanding of the type of work done, given that I deal with many schools. I look forward to the Minister's response.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue.

The school completion programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. It is a targeted intervention aimed at school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills DEIS action plan. It involves 124 projects and related initiatives operating in 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools. These projects provide a range of supports and interventions designed to support approximately 36,000 children throughout the country who have been identified by local management committees as being at risk of educational disadvantage. Typically, projects offer homework clubs, breakfast clubs, mentoring programmes, learning support, social and personal development programmes, out-of-school supports, including music, art and sports, and a range of activities during holiday periods.

Since 1 January 2014, the Child and Family Agency has operational responsibility for the school completion programme, including the allocation of funds to local projects. In 2014 the agency allocated €24.756 million and a similar allocation is being made for 2015. There are two projects in County Clare - the Ennis school completion programme, with an allocation in the 2014-15 academic year of €255,947, and the Kilrush school completion programme, with an allocation of €119,978. The Ennis project involves four primary and two post-primary schools, while the Kilrush project involves one primary and one post-primary school. The agency asked chairpersons of local management committees to prepare their school retention plans for the 2015-2016 school year based on the expenditure allocated last year and to return them to the agency by last Friday, 5 June. Following receipt of these plans, all school completion projects including the two in County Clare will be notified of their allocations for the 2015-2016 school year.

The Senator may be aware that a review of the school completion programme by the ESRI is almost complete. The review is an important initiative in regard to planning for the future development of the school completion programme. The review will assist in identifying the reforms necessary to consolidate the programme on a sustainable footing for the future. The review is being overseen by a steering committee involving officials of the Child and Family Agency, my Department and the Department of Education and Skills.

The review will, among other things, examine the school completion programme structures and their fitness for purpose to support an integrated approach to address early school leaving. It will analyse the interventions provided and make recommendations for evidence informed supports designed to secure the best educational outcomes for young people. The Minister for Education and Skills recently published an evaluation of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, programme, which was also prepared by the ESRI, and which refers to the school completion programme as an integral support within DEIS in improving attendance and engagement in education.

The report is almost finalised and it is expected it will be available in the coming weeks.

I have advised the agency of my commitment to ensuring that there is no diminution in the school completion programme services. The school completion programme is an important service within the agency's educational welfare services. It is highly regarded as a key response in securing improved educational outcomes for children and young people at risk of early school leaving. I am pleased to confirm for the Senator that there will be no cuts to the programme.

Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)
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In fairness, I know the Minister has worked hard in this area but the report, when it comes back, may highlight the value of enhancing these programmes because they have been subjected to cuts in the region of 30% to 40% in recent years. I am glad the Minister is now in a position to ensure that there will be no further cuts and that the services will be maintained, if not enhanced, by the recommendations in the report. He fully understands the value of the services provided to those young people and, in that respect, the supports have to be provided to the school completion programme. I thank the Minister for his acknowledgement of that.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am very glad there are no cuts in this area because it is a hugely important programme. I am awaiting the outcome of the ESRI report but I am confident it will be very positive. I believe it will give us further evidence to underpin future development of the scheme and strengthen my hand in regard to the Estimates process in the coming year to try to get further funding for it. Nonetheless, we all have to be cognisant of the fact that our economy, although recovering, is still fragile. That recovery must be guarded, and we have to continue to make sure that all the funding we seek and receive is used to the best possible outcomes. That is why evidence based research and the ESRI report will be so important.

I am very pleased that in this year's budget we got our first increase for the Child and Family Agency. All of that money went into Tusla so that it could address the many needs it faces, and in particular many of the unallocated cases of children who were in requirement of social worker assistance.