Ms Anna Shakespeare:

The question was around the deprivation indices. The index is commissioned by Pobal every five years, following the completion of the national census. It is used by State agencies for the geographic identification of disadvantage and is primarily used to help target resources towards communities that are most in need. To answer the Deputy's question, the index uses a series of data points from the census to establish levels of disadvantage under three domains: demographic, profile, social class composition and labour market situation and gives a rounded view of the lived experience of disadvantage, beyond simply measuring income and poverty.

The resulting index provides a deprivation score of between plus-50 and minus-50 for every small area. We have used it, as have other parts of the State infrastructure, for example, in resource allocation modelling for the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, LEADER, the city and county childcare committees and most notably, as a key input into the DEIS identification model used by the Department of Education. Schools' designation as DEIS, as all the attendees would know, is considered a key factor in their eligibility for the Department of Social Protection hot school meals programme.

In the context of the commitments contained in the First 5 programme, which is at the heart of this strategy for babies, young children and their families, we are currently providing technical expertise to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on the potential application of that index as part of the model for identifying early learning and care settings with a high concentration of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Rather than the geographic location of the early learning and care provider or centre, we would use the locations from which those babies or children come as the mechanism by which the core funding might be established around that. I hope that is of assistance to the committee.