Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 July 2014
821. Deputy Eamonn Maloney asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide in tabular form the total funding for the school completion programme, for each of the years 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31053/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe School Completion Programme (SCP) aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to generally improve the school attendance, participation and retention of its target cohort. The SCP is a targeted intervention aimed at those school communities identified through the Department of Education and Skills' DEIS Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. It involves 124 locally managed projects and related initiatives operating across 470 primary and 224 post-primary schools to provide targeted supports to approximately 36,000 children and young people. The programme's project model approach gives local communities the autonomy to devise innovative approaches to address the needs of young people most at risk of early school leaving.
As with all major spending programmes, the School Completion Programme budget was subject to examination under the terms of the 2011 Comprehensive Review of Expenditure (CRE). This process identified a requirement for savings of 6.5% per annum across the programme over the period 2012 to 2014. Accordingly the funding available to the programme for the years in question is as follows:
|
Year |
Annual Budget |
|
2011 |
€30.256m |
|
2012 |
€28.256m |
|
2013 |
€26.456m |
Since its establishment on 1 January 2014, the Child and Family Agency has operational responsibility for the School Completion Programme, including the allocation of funds to projects within the programme. The process involves local projects developing annual school retention plans with detailed service proposals for the forthcoming academic year and the determination of the allocations to be provided on that basis and having regard to the CRE savings requirements.
The potential for any changes in the funding allocated to the School Completion Programme in future years is a matter to be considered in the estimates and budgetary process having regard to the resources available to Government.
