Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a breakdown of the six projects funded under the Drugs Task Force areas and his plans to expand the scheme. [22536/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There are six projects in Local Drugs Task Force areas which receive allocations from subhead B8 of my Department's Vote. Four of the projects are administered by the VECs in Dublin City, Dublin County (2) and Dun Laoghaire; my Department also provides each VEC with an allocation towards administration costs. The remaining two projects are administered directly by my Department. The attached table shows details of the allocations provided to the six projects in 2011 and 2012.

A review of the six projects was carried out in 2011. As a result of the review, four of the projects have received allocations in 2012 similar to their allocations in 2011. Two of the projects have had their 2011 allocations reduced by 10%. These projects involve outside facilitators delivering the substance use aspect of the Social, Personal and Health Education curriculum in schools. Following the review, it was considered that, in line with best practice guidelines issued to schools by my Department, the classroom teacher is the best placed professional to work consistently with students on the SPHE programme. There are no plans to extend funding to other projects under subhead B8 of my Department's Vote.

Projects Receiving Allocations under Subhead B8, Vote 26 Department of Education and Skills