Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent)
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10. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the input he has into children's education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35733/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, my Department recently launched Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures,the first overarching national policy framework which comprehends the age ranges of children and young people 0 – 24 years. Better Outcomes, Brighter Futuresis a cross-government strategy aimed at ensuring that all children and young people get the best possible foundation in learning and development, are engaged in education, and are supported to achieve their full potential in all areas of learning and development.

The Minister for Education and Skills has overall responsibility for policy, funding and direction, with regard to the education of children.

My Department supports the Department of Education and Skills in implementing its responsibility in a number of ways.

As regards the pre-school period, my Department funds the Early Childhood Care and Education programme at an annual cost of some €175 million enabling almost 70,000 children to avail of a free pre-school year, which benefits children's educational and developmental outcomes. Funding is provided by my Department to support a number of key childcare programmes which support the provision of early childhood care and education for more than 100,000 children each year and to assist their parents to avail of job opportunities.

Improving quality is critical to improving of educational outcomes for children. The two Departments continue to collaborate on the quality agenda for Early Years Services. Indeed the fact that the Early Years Education Policy Unit of the Department of Education and Skills is co-located with my Department in Mespil Road is testament to the close working relationship.

My Department supports quality in pre-school education in a number of ways. These include funding voluntary organisations to carry out the field testing of the Siolta Quality Assurance Programme and the roll out of the Aistear in Action projects, incentivising higher qualifications through the criteria for funding attaching to the free pre-school year, and, most recently, the introduction of new qualification requirements for staff in child care settings and financial support for staff to achieve those qualifications.

In respect of primary and secondary level pupils, the Child and Family Agency assists the Department of Education and Skills in a number of ways.

The functions and operational responsibilities of the former National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) are now part of the new Child and Family Agency. Since 1^stJanuary 2014 the staff of the former NEWB, including its Education Welfare Officers, have transferred to the new Agency.

The three service strands formerly under the remit of NEWB collectively form the Educational Welfare Services of the new Agency. These are:

- The Education Welfare Service, which has specific responsibility for the Agency’s general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education,

- The Home School Community Liaison Programme, which has 402 school-based co-ordinators; and

- The School Completion Programme which has a €24 m budget and provides to support 124 locally managed projects and related initiatives operating across 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools and providing targeted supports to approximately 36,000 children and young people.

I am confident that this Government's decision to amalgamate the educational welfare functions formerly assigned to the National Educational Welfare Board, into the Child and Family Agency will provide opportunities for more effective working amongst the range of professionals involved in directly supporting children and their families.

The Children Detention Schools in Oberstown, provide education facilities to children detained there by the courts. Educational Services are delivered to the children by the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board based on an education strategy agreed with the Irish Youth justice Service operating in my Department. The Inspectorate within the Department of Education and Skills carries out inspections of these services.