John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 335: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funds given to community groups in the Dublin South-East area for after-school projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5841/05]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 336: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the course of action which community groups can pursue if they have not spent money received from her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5842/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 335 and 336 together.

While my Department does not operate a specific national scheme for the provision of after-school projects, it supports a range of programmes which target additional resources at pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in order to facilitate their full participation in the education system.

Eighty-two projects, 112 post-primary schools and 300 primary schools, participate in the school completion programme, which aims to develop local strategies to ensure maximum participation levels in the education process. It entails targeting individual young people of school going age, both in and out of school, and arranging supports to address inequalities in education access, participation and outcomes. Each project site must devise a collaborative programme of in-school and out-of-school actions, which provide after-school, holiday time, home, family and community supports to enhance the young person's readiness to benefit from education. There are two school completion programme clusters serving schools in south-east Dublin. These clusters, comprising three post-primary and seven primary schools, have received an allocation in excess of €400,000 in 2004-05.

My Department also provides funding for homework clubs in disadvantaged areas under the fund for the development of targeted responses to certain children at risk. This fund is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan. Its purpose is to develop preventative and supportive programmes targeted at children and young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage and social exclusion. Under this fund, three projects are being supported in Dublin South East in 2005. These projects, including the Life Centre in Pearse Street and the Rathmines Information and Community Services Centre, have received combined funding in excess of €70,000 in 2004-05. It is a general requirement that projects supported under the above-named programmes spend their allocation within the relevant calendar or school year. In cases where a particular group does not exhaust its full allocation within the prescribed timeframe, this will be taken into account by my Department in determining the level of support required by the project in the following year. If the Deputy has any queries regarding particular projects, I will arrange for a direct response to issue if relevant details are forwarded to my Department.