Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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802. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost to restore the school completion programme to 2010 levels. [31671/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a key support under my Department’s Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme.

In 2010, €31m was allocated to SCP. In the interim the SCP programme transferred out of my Department. In recent years, SCP was under the remit of the Minister for Children, Equality Disability Integration and Youth.

SI 588 of 2020 which came into operation on January 1, 2021, transferred the functions vested in the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in relation to the administration of the School Completion Programme to the Minister for Education.

The announcement I made on 1 March, 2021 provided for an additional allocation of €2.3m to the School Completion Programme as part of Budget 2021 measures, increasing the SCP full year budget to €27m from 2022, encompassing extension of SCP to an additional 28 schools and incorporating a 5% increase in budget to current SCP funding overall.