Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 553 and 554 together.

Prior to 2020, the Department of Education operated two educational schemes during the summer period: the July Provision and the DEIS Literacy & Numeracy Summer camps.

July Provision was only available to children with an ASD diagnosis or children who had a severe and profound General Learning Disability and who attended special schools or special classes within mainstream primary schools. The scheme was known as the Special School and Special Class Programme. In 2019, approximately 13,000 children participated in these schemes.

In 2020, the Special School and Special Class Programme was extended to include more children with special educational needs. It became known as the Summer Programme. Where a school-based programme was not available for eligible children, the home-based programme was available to them. A DEIS Inclusion Programme in post primary was also introduced (now referred to as the Post Primary School Scheme) while the DEIS Literacy and Numeracy camps in primary continued.

Just under 23,000 children were supported under the new Summer Programme in 2020.

In 2021, the summer programme expanded, not only incorporate the three schemes from 2020, to include a new inclusion scheme for mainstream primary schools. Subsequently all schools were given an opportunity to run a school-based programme. Again the home-based programme was available for eligible children where the school-based programme was unavailable.

The number of children supported in the 2021 Summer Programme equated to almost 38,000.

The 2022 Summer Programme continued to build on the success of the 2021 programme and offered the same range of programmes, with the same eligibility criteria.

Like in previous years, the upward trend of children participating in the Summer Programme continued with more than 42,000 children being supported in 2022.

In 2023, a piloted Summer Programme for Special Schools was introduced. This replaced the Special School and Special Class Programme. The Special Class element was also integrated into one cohesive special educational needs scheme for mainstream primary schools, referred to as the Primary School Scheme.

In 2023, the upward trajectory continued as more than 50,000 children went on to take part in the Summer Programme. In relation to 2024, while early indications show that more children have participated, the actual figure will not be known for some time until all payment claims have been processed.

Prior to 2021, the funding available for the summer programme amounted to €20 million. As a measure relating to the impact of Covid-19 on schools and families, funding for the expanded Summer Programme was increased from €20 million to €40 million in 2021. Since 2021, the Summer Programme continues to be underpinned by €40 million in funding and all of the funding has been utilised to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children.

The number of children who have taken part in the Summer Programme since 2019 is as follows:

A breakdown of the funding that has been provided for the Summer Programme each year since 2020 is below: