Mr. Michael Gillespie:

All of the supports that are given to DEIS schools are welcome, for example, home school liaisons, but their provision is arbitrary. We have DEIS students in schools that are not DEIS designated and, consequently, they cannot get that support even though they need home school liaisons and so on. The provision is too arbitrary for students who are disadvantaged.

The great equaliser is education. As Ms Neville mentioned, the only way we can help these students is by giving them equal opportunities. It is a question of how to identify them. There are schools around the country that are the only schools in their towns and have large numbers of DEIS students yet they have no DEIS designation or home school liaisons. They may have people who provide supports on a voluntary basis, but there is nothing like the formal service.