Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The question may seem a little historical as I did not know when the report was to be published. We all know the reasons DEIS was introduced, namely, to try to target and break down some of the barriers for children through the introduction of certain measures. The point of my question, which follows on from the Minister's point on additional resources, is that I am aware of schools which, if given the opportunity today, would fit the criteria for DEIS. While they are disadvantaged schools, the system itself is doubly disadvantaging those schools and the children within them. The Minister will not want another review - God forbid - but is there any mechanism to look into this issue? I accept what he says in regard to resources but we are doubly disadvantaging these children, which is wrong.

DEIS was never about creating barriers or building walls, it was about pulling down walls and doing away with barriers. The Minister says some schools will have more resources than others. However, some schools are run alongside DEIS schools and fit all the criteria, including schools in my area, for example, in Inchicore and at St. Mary's in Tallaght, which has children from 26 countries as well as Traveller children, all affected by unemployment, social and economic change and so on. The system needs to adapt. What I ask is not unreasonable and the Minister should consider it.

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