2026-05-07

I am delighted that the Minister of State is here. We often meet on Thursdays when we are chatting. I am disappointed that the Minister for education is not here because it falls within her remit. I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come and discuss the issue of the Cork Life Centre. I am sure he is aware of it. It is in his neck of the woods, not quite in his constituency but closer to him than it is to me. I visited there in February when I was in Cork for the Social Democrats' conference. I had spent a long time hoping that I would some day get to visit the Cork Life Centre, because it is a place that many people hold in high esteem. When I went in, it was exactly how I thought it would be. It was a place of care and love and excellence in education. I was shown around by a young person who had written to me and invited me to the centre. He was a graduate of the Cork Life Centre and he could not have demonstrated better why it was a place that should be valued and held in the highest esteem in our education system. Why the centre works so well is because our education system is built around systems. It is built around a curriculum and bigger things that move in large movements as opposed to the person whom it should focus on and move around, that is, the child or the learner. The Cork Life Centre has figured out exactly how to put the student at the core of the curriculum and everything it does. This means that when a young person arrives to the Cork Life Centre, they are greeted with open arms. There is an expectation that they will achieve the best that they can in the time that it takes and that the centre will be with them all the way along that journey. Students can be interested in whatever takes their fancy. I saw a beautiful woodwork room, and art room and rooms where they could read, learn or play. An exercise area was being built. The gardening area was fantastic. When they arrive, they are welcomed with a cup of tea and a biscuit, just like I was, and the warmth in that building is spectacular. There is a slight problem, in that because it is not a recognised centre, it does not quite fit. It does not have a roll number like a primary school, a secondary school or a special school. It is not a community training centre and it is not Youthreach. It does not fit neatly into what we want it to fit into. The review of out-of-school provision was published in 2022 and a number of recommendations have come from that. I know that there is an implementation forum that is working through those but it was published four years ago now and that should move on. The challenge for the centre of not being recognised as one of the settings I mentioned earlier is that it does not get appropriate funding. It does not get the allocation of teachers or the supports that other learning centres get. On that basis, the centre struggles with funding and with getting teachers. There are teachers and support personnel there who work on a voluntary basis. We are talking about a very vulnerable cohort of young people who have left mainstream education for whatever reason and they are being accepted into the Cork Life Centre to be given a second chance. However, the centre cannot exist on fresh air and hope only. What can be done to support the Cork Life Centre correctly?

I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this very important matter. At the forefront of our thoughts this afternoon is Don O'Leary and the great work he did. This is a very important Cork educational establishment. The Deputy is right that it is held in high esteem across Cork and beyond. The care and love it shows is a wonderful example of how education can be. As a former director of adult education and a teacher of the leaving certificate applied, I understand fully that the Cork Life Centre is committed to supporting children and young people who attend the centre so that they can realise their full potential and the benefits the centre will bring to their lives. I apologise that I do not have the scripted reply for the Deputy, but I will get it forwarded to her. For some reason, it has not been made available. I also apologise for the Minister not being here. I am taking this matter on her behalf. Since the 1970s, a small number of alternative education settings that operate outside of the traditional mainstream education system have evolved on an ad hoc basis across the State. What is clear is that these settings support the needs of children and young people who have disengaged from, as it were, or are not engaged in mainstream education. They have blossomed and flourished, in this case in the Cork Life Centre in Sunday's Well. The Acting Chair is familiar with it as well. This educational setting, and I use to word “setting” not in a cold way but, as the Deputy quite rightly articulated, in a way that provides access to education for approximately 55 children and young adults between the ages of 13 and 18 who would not be in mainstream education and who would be lost to the education system were it not for the centre. As I said, it is junior cycle and leaving certificate applied exams. It is supported by an incredible group of staff, teachers, volunteers and people who are under the trusteeship of the Christian Brothers European Province. The centre is one of a small number of alternative education providers that are supported by the Department of Education and Youth. The Department has provided funding and teacher co-operation hours to the centre for several years going back to 2018, which has been increased significantly since then. This year, the Department provided funding of €177,500 along with 6,200 co-operation hours in conjunction with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. As the Deputy knows, centre referrals come from the education and welfare service, school principals, social workers or child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. The centre is seeking sustainability for the future from the Department. Over the past number years, Department officials have visited the centre and met with management on a number of occasions in relation to the issues discussed by the Deputy. Department officials wrote to the centre two years ago with a proposal from the Department that will see the centre recognised under the Education Act 1998. It will then be designated as a special school for primary, with a school roll number. The communication from the Department sets out the requirements in relation to equipment provision, teaching of the curriculum and the length of the school day and school year in order to be recognised by the Department as a primary school under the Education Act. The letter also outlines the level of staffing resources and other supports that would be allocated by the Department to the centre to be recognised as a school. I believe that officials are continuing to engage with the centre in respect of this funding and arrangements. I assure Deputy Cummins that the Department of education recognises the many benefits of the centre. All of us present in the Chamber recognise the impact it is having on young people, and we are totally in awe at the quality of education and the outcomes. I am constantly asking the Department about this as well. The Department is committed to working with all of us to ensure that the centre in the coming period is sustainable because Cork Life Centre has been of huge benefit in our city and county. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I will bring her points back to the Department and the Minister.

I thank the Minister of State. As he said, it really is a wonderful centre. The thing is, however, it is not a special school. When it is designated as a special school, that means a primary school, which it is not. These are young people. In fact, some of them are 16. They can decide their own medical issues. They can apply for a driving licence at 17. It is not a special school. I know the Department wants to designate it as a special school, but it is not one. Therefore, a category has to be made for this type of school. The iScoil is designated as a primary school as well. There is a review of the blended learning centres for iScoil that has not been published yet. I imagine it will say that it is absolutely excellent. I say that as somebody who ran an iScoil in a blended learning centre. The challenge is that if we are trying to fit education provision centres into something they are not, that is where we will reach difficulties. A primary school does not do the leaving certificate and junior certificate, so how do we do that? These young people will be doing Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, levels 3, 4 and 5. They will be doing the leaving certificate applied. Therefore, it is not a special school. A different category has to be created. What is quite difficult for me to understand, though, is that if the Department has been engaging - I believe it has, I am not questioning that part - why it has taken three years to discuss this when it has been going since the 1970s. That special category to recognise centres like the Cork Life Centre has to be put into the Education Act. It is just taking too long for the Department to come up with the answer for that. In the meantime, we have staff who are so absolutely dedicated but kind of flabbergasted as to why it is taking so long and why they have to prove so much that the work they are doing is saving people's lives. It is bringing people back into education when the education system has failed them. The young people did not disengage from the education system. The mainstream education system neglected them and labelled them as "others" and they were let down by that system. The young people were failed. It is not that the young people disengaged or failed. It is that the system failed them. The Cork Life Centre is there, however. It will be able to bring them back to a way of learning that appreciates them for who they are and builds back their self-esteem and their love of learning, which, ultimately, is a thing that we want to see for every young person. I am way over time so I better stop talking.

It is important to recognise that the Department has been engaging. There was a piece going back to 2024 relating to primary school designation. Ultimately, what we all want to see is that the life centre in Sunday's Well is supported and that we keep students who would not be in mainstream education in education. The inspectorate carried out a bespoke evaluation model last year. As the Deputy can imagine, the evaluation was positive. Some of the findings include that staff were observed as being considerably kind, supportive and caring towards all young people. Young people themselves reported that the education in Cork Life Centre was a positive experience for them, and parents reported that the centre and staff made a very positive contribution to children's lives and the lives of their families. The key point for all of us here, and the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach is very familiar with this, is that the recent evaluation reported that the lessons in the life centre were meaningful and engaging and that a good questioning approach was used that enabled young people to be able to, if you like, use subject-specific terminology and express their understanding. As we know, that is very important in the education process. What is very important from the evaluation and for those of us who go in there and have met with the staff and students is that they are very effective and proactive in supporting young people to recognise the positive contribution education can make and have on their future development. We will continue to engage with Cork Life Centre. I reassure the Deputy that the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, recognises the many benefits Cork Life Centre is having on children and young people who attend it. The Department is keen to work with Cork Life Centre in the coming period to examine its future sustainability. For a variety of reasons, we must recognise that students do not stay in mainstream education. It is not leaving cert plus, as the Deputy knows; it is a combination of everything. The approach being taken here is one that has worked. I certainly hope we can collaboratively work together to ensure its continuing success.

I thank the Minister of State. Cork Life Centre will be having its annual awards on Thursday, 21 May. We are all looking forward to that as well.