Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the options open to schools and coordinators if funding for the school completion programme is cut; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38978/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The School Completion Programme (SCP) is one of three service strands, which also includes the Home School Community Liaison and the Education Welfare Service, integrated under the remit of the National Educational welfare Board (NEWB). The SCP aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to generally improve the quality of attendance, participation and retention in school of its target cohort. The SCP is a key programme under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) action plan.

The SCP supports 124 projects and related initiatives operating in 472 primary and 225 post-primary schools. Each local project operates under the direction of a Local Management Committee which assess local needs to devise a costed proposal of interventions (known as the Retention Plan) to support young people who are at risk of educational disadvantage in their school, home and community life. The retention plan is submitted annually to the National Educational Welfare Board for consideration and approval.

With regard to this year’s funding arrangements for projects I am pleased to confirm that my Department has allocated the first tranche of funding for the 2012/2013 academic year to school based projects and related initiatives. Budgets and administrative arrangements for the coming year are being finalised and will be confirmed to individual projects by the end of the September.

The NEWB is responsible for the operational management, development and direction of the School Completion programme within its remit to deliver an integrated school support service. As part of this work the Board works closely with management committees, schools and local SCP co-ordinators to ensure student supports and interventions are tailored to meet local needs. The NEWB will assist each local project to review its planned programme of interventions to ensure projects are delivered within available resources in the coming academic year.

In parallel with this ongoing process, my Department is also working to complete a comprehensive review of the School Completion Programme. It is anticipated that the review will identify operational efficiencies and other reforms which may assist to mitigate the impact of necessary savings and maintain the programme on a sustainable footing within available resources in the coming years.