Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a lesson to be learned in terms of how we get the message across. The school secretaries do it through the channels open to them. They have had protests and there was a campaign in all the constituencies. I believe this issue has gone on for far too long. We need to get people talking around a table.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire spoke about school transport, special needs and buses travelling past schools. I have no wish to go over this issue again. Next year, we will spend €220 million on school transport. The Deputy referred to school traffic, which we have also covered, and referred to the State Examinations Commission and compassion. We have made changes with regard to bereavement. If a conversation has not already started about illness and different reasons, one will start. My officials are well aware that the conversation will require consideration as well. For the moment, the change relates to bereavement. I thank the officials for the compassion they have shown on that issue.

Reference was made to PISA results and the DEIS programme. We are investing €125 million in DEIS.

We can and should increase that investment. The current cohort of 870 in the entire DEIS system see the complexity of their world, in terms of societal change, dealing daily with NEPS, referrals to CAMHS and that constant frustration and the extra administration around that work. We have to look at that cohort, whether in band 1 or 2. The other schools are knocking on the door and saying they have complex issues too. When DEIS started in 2005 it was based on geographical grounds linked to socioeconomic disadvantage. Life has become much more complex and geography does not now necessarily determine whether a school needs DEIS status. We need to consider building on that. We have a group working on class size and we will produce a report on that in a few weeks' time. That will be relevant to all schools but particularly DEIS schools. We have made significant progress in our analysis of DEIS and gathering socioeconomic data. We are approaching the endgame and our next steps on DEIS. A big conversation will be needed. If I still hold this position in the new year – I am not going to get involved in talk of an election today – I will ensure that pioneers of DEIS, the stakeholders, the teachers and principals who were, and continue to be, involved in it from day one are part of that conversation. They have to be part of the solution. I do not need to tell anybody on this committee about the complexities, the mental health issues and anxiety that teachers and principals have to deal with from day to day. We must keep that to the fore.