Vol. 494 No. 4
445 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Education and Science the representations, if any, he received from St. Peter Apostle junior and senior school, Neilstown, Dublin 22, (details supplied) in relation to the 8-15 initiative and other matters; and, if so, the plans, if any, he has to improve the situation in this area of serious disadvantage. [18638/98]
I recently received representations from the schools referred to by the Deputy, regarding their unsuccessful application for inclusion, as part of the Clondalkin consortium, in the 8-15 Early School Leavers Initiative. The representations also referred to the schools' desire to seek inclusion in the Breaking the Cycle scheme; the Teacher Counsellor scheme; and their request for extra remedial teacher posts.
The application from the group in question for inclusion in the Early School Leavers Initiative was one of a large number of applications received by my Department. All applications were examined by a special selection committee comprised of representatives of my Department and outside agencies involved in this area. A total of 14 project areas were selected for inclusion in the present phase of the initiative. The scope of this new initiative is limited in terms of the number of projects which can be refunded, and the key objective was to select strategic pilot projects in urban and rural areas of disadvantage which will develop models of good practice with a view to their integration, after structured evaluation, into mainstream policy and practice.
With regard to the Breaking the Cycle scheme, the Teacher Counsellor scheme and the question of extra remedial teacher posts, my capacity to extend these services to additional schools in any given year is dependent on resource availability and the level of competing demand from other special needs areas.
However, I can assure the Deputy that the needs of the schools to which he refers will be fully considered in the context of any additional resource allocations which may be undertaken to address the problem of educational disadvantage.
