Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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865. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if contracts for those employed in the school completion programme in counties Kerry and Limerick, which are due to end in August will be renewed for the 2013/2014 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27740/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The School Completion Programme (SCP) aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to generally improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort.

Projects within the School Completion Programme, including those in Counties Kerry and Limerick, are managed and directed by a Local Management Committee (LMC), which includes representatives of schools, parents, and other local education stakeholders. These projects provide a range of supports and interventions designed to support children identified by the LMC as being at risk of educational disadvantage. This project model approach facilitates creative and innovative approaches by the LMC in devising targeted supports in response to the needs of local young people. The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), which operates under the remit of my Department, provides strategic and operational assistance to each Local Management Committee.

My Department has recently written to the Chairperson of each SCP in relation to planning for the next cycle of the programme, including matters related to finance and contractual arrangements. The NEWB has also issued the Retention Plan template for the year 1^st September 2013 to 31^st August 2014 to each project, along with detailed instructions for development of costed service proposals by the LMC.

In the development and delivery of the Retention Plan projects have been advised to consider all elements of local expenditure and the measures necessary to reduce costs while prioritising proven supports and interventions to the greatest extent possible. Each project should ensure that the outcome of its annual review, and the experience of programme management in the past year, are used to inform the development of an effective programme of supports to support the target group of young people. In the course of planning for the next cycle projects are required to consider their staffing arrangements in the context of the available budget and their proposed programme of activities.

The diversity of the SCP programme delivery arrangements, and the variety in costs and activities, means that the required adjustment to remain within budget needs to be agreed and managed locally by the LMC.

The National SCP team in the NEWB is available to assist and advise projects during this process.