Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
244. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 204 of 27 June 2017, when the review of Caranua will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39471/17]
View answerAs I explained in my reply to the Deputy’s question of 27 June, it was envisaged that the initial phase of the Caranua eligibility review would be conducted by an economist on secondment to my Department from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. That initial phase, which involves a review of Caranua’s expenditure to date and an estimation of the projected expenditure taking into account applications on hands and anticipated further applications together with an estimation of any possible underspend of the available funding, is nearing completion.
In accordance with the Terms of Reference of the review, if an underspend is indicated a consultation process will be initiated with stakeholders about an expansion of the eligibility criteria, including identification of the groups that could be considered for inclusion in any expansion, and will identify possible arrangements for verifying eligibility, resource implications and related issues.
In the event that the findings of the initial phase of the review indicate that there is unlikely to be an underspend of the €110 million in funding available to Caranua, the review will conclude at that point.
