John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 197: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the projects funded under the children at risk fund; the amount allocated to each project in each of the past five years; if the funding will be continued for each of the projects and if not the plans that are in place to continue the work being undertaken to support children at risk; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1329/11]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Fund for the Development of Targeted Educational Responses to Certain Children at Risk, which was also known as the Children at Risk Fund commenced in 1998. The objective of the Fund was to support the development of preventative and supportive programmes, which were targeted at children and young people who were at risk of educational disadvantage and social exclusion. A key focus of the initiative was the empowerment of local communities to develop innovative and flexible programmes that address identified needs of intended participants. Resources allocated under this initiative were used for the provision of a range of holistic supports to enable pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to participate fully in education.

In 2005 the Department launched the DEIS initiative which brought together a range of programmes and supports aimed at tackling educational disadvantage in some 878 schools throughout the country. Through DEIS an additional €40million was provided bringing the allocation for disadvantage in schools to in excess of €200million. In the light of this additional investment, a decision was taken in Budget 2009 to discontinue the Children at Risk fund.

In 2009 my Department conducted an evaluation of seven remaining projects as part of a review of support for projects under Children at Risk fund to assist in determining future funding arrangements and possible mainstreaming of appropriate projects or models of intervention. The evaluation reports were finalised and issued in 2010.

The following are details of the number of projects and funding provided under the Children at Risk Fund over the last 5 years: 2005 - 28 projects and a Music Initiative - €1,243,955. 2006 - 35 projects and the Music Initiative - €1,251,041. 2007 - 26 projects and 9 schools - €1,269,738. 2008 - 9 projects and 1 school - €607,028. 2009 - 8 projects - €480,143. 2010 - 6 projects - €402,800 was issued in December 2010.

The School Completion Programme is a major component of DEIS. This programme provides support for targeted children who are at risk of early school leaving. The supports are provided through 124 local projects and include interventions on school attendance, literacy/numeracy as well as social and sporting interventions. The School Completion Programme will be comprehensively reviewed in the coming year. In the context of this review, consideration will be given to the integration of some of the remaining six projects with the School Completion Programme where appropriate.