Two months after Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced €100,000 in additional funding to the Cork Life Centre and the allocation of 12 new teaching posts, the centre’s director is warning its future is at risk. Talks with the Department of Education have broken down over 'redline issue' of staff retention, and director Don O'Leary fears the northside centre may be forced to close. The Life Centre, which offers an alternative learning experience to young people who might otherwise fall through the cracks of mainstream education, said the department was planning on allocating 12 staff to the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB), and the CETB would then transfer staff to the Life Centre. Mr O’Leary said this would lead to the loss of the centre’s own staff and that to accept the department’s offer could ultimately result in the centre closing. Mr O’Leary said full-time roles should instead be secured for the Life Centre’s current teachers and tutors: “We don’t need extra staff, we need money to pay our own staff.

Source: Irish Examiner July 11, 2021 11:15 UTC