Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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286. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of pupils leaving our educational system at 13 years; and the responses that are in place for early drop-outs. [9243/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There is currently no national data available on retention of pupils at primary level or on the numbers leaving by age.

Enhancing attendance, progression, retention and attainment are central elements of DEIS, the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. DEIS is part of a continuum of interventions delivered by my Department to address educational disadvantage including early school leaving from pre-school through second-level education. This includes second-chance education and training and access measures to increase participation in further and higher education for the minority of our young people who, for various reasons, leave education early without the knowledge and skills they need to support them in later life. A further element of this continuum is the ongoing development of provision for pupils with special educational needs.

It is particularly encouraging to see the retention rate in DEIS schools increase substantially, from 68.2% for the 2001 cohort to 80.4% for the 2007 cohort. The retention rates of pupils, who entered the first year of the junior cycle in 2007, represents a full cohort of students to have DEIS resources available to them throughout their second level education.

The Educational Welfare Services of the Child and Family Agency has developed a new Integrated Model of Service Delivery which involves the Educational Welfare Service, the Home School Community Liaison Scheme, the School Completion Programme as well as schools in order to improve service delivery to schools, children and their families. This new service model is designed to facilitate a standardisation of service delivery across the country whilst also taking into consideration the need for flexibility given the unique nature of difficulties presenting in individual children's lives. I understand that pilot testing of the model is currently underway with full service roll-out anticipated in 2014.