Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the examination of additional supports to groups working with early school leavers that has taken place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4477/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I take it that the Deputy is referring to Action 88 of DEIS Plan 2017 - 'Review of current our of school and second-chance provision to inform future supports in this area, including those provided through TUSLA". Work on the implementation of this action has commenced with the establishment of a Working Group chaired by my Department and including representatives from Tusla and the Education and Training Board Sector. It is intended to conduct a stakeholder consultation over the coming months with a view to publishing a report of the outcome of these deliberations later this year.

The Deputy may also be interested to know that an evaluation of the Youthreach programme is currently under way. This evaluation is being undertaken by the ESRI on behalf of SOLAS and it is anticipated that the findings of this work will be published in the last quarter of the year.