Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House on developments regarding Bunscoil Mhuire. The school support programme under DEIS, the new action plan for educational inclusion, will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions in schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. The new action plan is being introduced on a phased basis, starting during the current school year. It will involve an additional annual investment of €40 million on full implementation. In addition, supports will continue to be provided for schools where the level of disadvantage is more dispersed.

As one may already be aware, the process of identifying primary and second level schools for participation in the new school support programme has now been completed. This process was managed by the Educational Research Centre on behalf of the Department of Education and Science and supported by quality assurance work co-ordinated through the Department's regional offices and the inspectorate. In the primary sector, the identification process was based on a survey of all mainstream primary schools. An excellent response rate of more than 97% was achieved from this survey.

As a result of the identification process, 840 schools have been invited to participate in the new school support programme. These comprise 640 primary schools — 320 urban/town schools and 320 rural schools — and 200 second level schools. Letters of invitation were issued to all 840 schools in late February with a request to complete and return an acceptance form by 10 March 2006.

The school to which the Deputy refers is not among the primary schools selected for participation in the school support programme and is not participating in any of the pre-existing schemes for addressing concentrated disadvantage. However, in addition to the provision being made under the new school support programme for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage, financial support will also continue to be provided for other primary schools where the level of disadvantage is most dispersed. This support will be based on the results of the new identification process and the arrangements which will apply in this regard will be notified to schools early in the autumn.

A review mechanism has been put in place to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in the school support programme but regard themselves as having a level of disadvantage of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the programme. This mechanism will operate under the direction of an independent person, charged with ensuring that all relevant identification processes and procedures are properly followed in the case of schools applying for a review. The school to which the Deputy refers has requested a review and a review form was issued to the school on 6 March 2006. The closing date for receipt of review applications is Friday, 31 March 2006. I hope this clarifies the position on the school to which the Deputy referred.

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