Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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267. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional support and resources will be provided to school staff due to changes in the school completion programme in view of the increased workload; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9162/20]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The School Completion Programme (SCP) forms an integral part of TUSLA's Education Support Service under the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The SCP aims to increase retention in primary and post-primary education and in doing so improving the numbers of pupils who successfully complete Senior Cycle. The programme is a key support for schools under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme.

The SCP is under the remit of Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) who have advised that there are currently no changes planned to the SCP in the immediate short term.  DCYA is currently developing a Policy Blueprint on the future of all Education Support Services provided by Tusla. As part of the implementation of the actions contained in this blueprint, DCYA have advised that a new SCP scheme will be scoped out and developed to ensure that its reach, resources and impact are maximised in supporting young people and work on this will begin once the blueprint is published.