Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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668. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the rationale for ceasing funding to the Meitheal project in County Wexford; the alternative funding or alternative programmes she is putting in place as a result of her decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8334/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department has provided funding of €49,282 to the Meitheal Programme in Co. Wexford for the 2013/2014 school year. This funding was provided under the School Completion Programme following the consideration and approval of a service proposal received from Wexford Local Development in relation to the Meitheal programme.

The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a targeted intervention aimed at those school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills’ DEIS Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. The School Completion Programme 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. SCP supports 124 local projects operating in 472 primary and 225 post-primary schools across the country and a small number of stand-alone initiatives with compatible objectives. This includes five SCP projects currently in operation in Co. Wexford supporting 22 primary and 9 post primary schools, which were allocated just under €970,000 this academic year.

These school based projects provide a range of supports and interventions designed to support individual children identified by the Local Management Committee as being at risk of early school leaving within those school communities. This project model approach gives local communities the autonomy to devise creative and innovative approaches to address the needs of local young people most at risk of early school leaving.

Having regard to the targeted nature of the School Completion Programme, my Department advised Wexford Local Development to engage with the existing local projects in relation to the Meitheal Programme with a view to ensuring a coherent and coordinated approach to delivery of support services in Co. Wexford.

The newly established Child and Family Agency is responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the School Completion Programme within the Education Welfare Services pillar of the Agency. Within this remit the Agency will manage the SCP budget and the allocation of funds to projects within the programme. It is understood that discussions between the SCP projects and Wexford Local Development are being facilitated by the Child and Family Agency with a view to developing collaborative area based approaches to the provision of targeted supports within the SCP.

As with all major spending programmes, the School Completion Programme budget is subject to an adjustment under the terms of the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure. I am advised that no proposals have yet been formulated by the Child and Family Agency in relation to funding for the 2014/2015 academic year. All allocations for the next academic cycle will be considered within the annual service planning process.