Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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165. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of home school community liaison officers; the budget for the home school community liaison scheme; and the percentage of that budget which provides for salaries and expenses. [42319/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) is a key support under the DEIS School Support Programme and part of the new integrated service delivery model for educational welfare services – One Child. Operational responsibility for HSCL lies within the Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) which also has direct management responsibility for the HSCL Senior Management Team.

Currently there are 400 teachers deployed as HSCL Coordinators in DEIS schools participating in the HSCL scheme. My Department will spend some €26m on the scheme in 2014 in respect of salary costs for the 400 HSCL local Coordinators and the HSCL Senior Management Team which is located in Tusla.

Expenses associated with individual HSCL Coordinator posts are met by participating schools from within the annual DEIS grant. Schools are currently required to allocate, at least, a minimum of 10% of their DEIS grant for use on HSCL activities and to cover any expenses incurred by the local HSCL Coordinator in the delivery of the scheme.

Expenses incurred by the HSCL National Team Senior Management Team are met by Tusla.