The submission seeking funding for the homework club, Fr. McGrath Centre, Kilkenny has been fully considered by officials in my Department.
The position is that my capacity to allocate funding to such projects in any given year is dependent on resource availability and the level of competing demand from other special needs areas.
However, one of the key objectives of the projects strand of the eight to 15 early school leaver initiative, that was introduced in 14 project areas in September 1998, is to test responses to the problem of early school leaving and to identify models of good practice. Information from the evaluation of the projects will inform the educational system generally and effective models will be replicated in areas of disadvantage, as resources become available. The integration of the services of a range of statutory and voluntary agencies in the project areas, including schools, to provide in-school and out-of-school supports for young people at risk of educational disadvantage is one dimension of the projects. These aspects of the projects include homework support as well as personal and social development and leisure and recreational facilities.
I can assure the Deputy that the application for support from the Fr. McGrath homework club will be fully considered in the context of the project findings and of the availability of additional resources to address the problem of early school leaving and educational disadvantage.