Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. The ESRI report is indeed welcome and it is the first overall review of the DEIS scheme since it was introduced in 2006. The findings show the scheme is working. It is a scheme which my party, Fianna Fáil, was committed to when it established it in 2006. In recent times, we have been calling for it to be expanded. I welcome the fact the Minister is examining the scheme’s criteria but that cannot happen too quickly for many of the schools outside of the scheme. What is the timeline for the interdepartmental group to report to the Minister? When does she expect she will be in a position to extend this very valuable scheme to the many schools which would meet the current criteria if the cap were removed?

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