Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 729: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if teachers on secondment to school completion programmes are being forced to return to ordinary teaching duties; his views on a case (details supplied) in County Wexford; if there are any alternative options available for school completion programmes to recruit staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12410/10]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The School Completion Programme (SCP) is my Department's programme for tackling early school leaving. The programme targets young people between the ages of 4 and 18 years and supports 468 primary and 223 post-primary schools in 124 School Completion Programme sites across 26 counties.

Each School Completion project employs a local Coordinator to run the project at local level. Project coordinators come from a variety of backgrounds including youth, community and social work. Teacher qualifications are not regarded by my Department as essential or necessary prerequisites for appointment to the post of Project Coordinator. At present only 14 of the 124 SCP coordinators are teachers, all of whom are seconded from permanent posts in schools. Not one of these coordinators have been replaced at this time.

My Department will continue to prioritise the secondment of teachers to positions within National Programmes where such positions will substantially require teacher qualifications. As the project coordinator positions do not fall within this category the secondments will not be renewed when they lapse in August 2010. No new secondments to the position of Coordinator will be entered into.

From 1 September 2010, project coordinators who are seconded from schools may elect to return to their teaching duties or alternatively they may choose to continue their employment with the School Completion Project. Those coordinators who choose to remain in the employ of the School Completion Project will no longer benefit from a secondment arrangement with their school.

School Completion Programme project staff are subject to the terms of the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotion in the Public Service. My Department is currently in discussion with the Department of Finance to consider how future vacancies in the projects can be resolved in the context of the Employment Control Framework to be agreed for the Education Sector.