Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

A key priority for my Department is to prioritise and target resources in schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage. That challenge is significant given the current economic climate and the target to reduce overall public expenditure. This limits the capacity for any additionality in the DEIS programme.

The process of identifying schools for participation in DEIS was managed by the Educational Research Centre, ERC, on behalf of my Department 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 carried out by the ERC in May 2005. The analysis of the survey returns from primary schools by the ERC identified the socio-economic variables that collectively best predict achievement. These variables were then used to identify schools for participation in DEIS. As the Deputy noted, notwithstanding repeated communications to the school referred to by the Deputy, a completed survey form was not received from the school in question and therefore it could not be assessed at the time for participation in DEIS.

Many representations have been made to my Department and to my predecessors by and on behalf of Inver national school, seeking its inclusion in DEIS. These representations were unsuccessful. It should be noted that none of those schools in the country which were unsuccessful in the initial identification and subsequent review processes were ever admitted to the DEIS programme.

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