Vol. 577 No. 3
103 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps his Department is taking to intervene in the cycle of crime at an early stage when young people begin to offend, other than placing them in juvenile detention centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30935/03]
Education has a crucial role to play in tackling social exclusion by providing access to life chances and thereby breaking the cycle of disadvantage. In this regard, my Department is implementing a wide range of programmes to tackle educational disadvantage. Some €460 million is being provided in 2003 for these programmes. Early school leaving is a key indicator for subsequent difficulties, including criminal activity. The school completion programme is being implemented to directly target those in danger of dropping out of the education system. The National Educational Welfare Board has been established on a statutory basis and will develop a nationwide service to provide welfare-focused services to children, families and schools. The board's work will complement that being done under the home-school-liaison scheme, the school completion programme and the visiting teacher service for Travellers, to ensure that every child attends school regularly or otherwise receives an education.
My Department operates a number of programmes at primary and post-primary level that are designed to tackle the problem of educational disadvantage such as Giving Children an Even Break, the home-school-community liaison scheme, the disadvantaged areas scheme, Youthreach programme, youth encounter projects and disadvantaged youth schemes. In all this work, I am advised by the statutory Educational Disadvantage Committee set up under the Education Act 1998 to advise on policies and strategies to be adopted to identify and correct educational disadvantage.
