Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for selecting this matter and I thank the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, for attending.

Everybody acknowledges that the DEIS programme to combat disadvantage in schools at primary and post-primary level has been a significant success since its introduction. Under the DEIS programme additional resources have been made available to the relevant primary and post-primary schools to deal with disadvantage. All Members also accept the importance of identifying areas of significant disadvantage in both urban and rural areas, which is done under the DEIS programme, measuring the level of disadvantage in as scientific a manner as possible and providing the type of resources that are necessary to combat that disadvantage. We accept that society benefits enormously from retaining children who come from a disadvantaged background in education and ensuring that they can maximise their potential while within the education system.

The issue is that the DEIS programme has effectively been closed down since approximately 2011. The Minister did not do it; her predecessor was somewhat involved in the process. The outcome of the closure of the DEIS programme to new entrants means that newly developed schools, schools that have merged and newly built schools have not been in a position to avail of the resources available to other schools previously existing in the DEIS programme. It is difficult to quantify the number of schools at issue. I estimate approximately 30 new primary schools were built between 2011 and 2013, but I am not sure how many post-primary schools have been developed from 2011 to now.

I have a certain interest in this because I chaired the board of a post-primary community school created through the amalgamation of three post-primary schools, two of which had disadvantaged or DEIS status. It is virtually incomprehensible that, although the feeder schools to this school have DEIS status and two of the schools that formed part of the new entity had DEIS status, the new entity itself does not. There is something fundamentally unfair, unreasonable and wrong about this.

I understand that the Minister is undertaking a review and that she has set up an interdepartmental working group to ensure a joined-up approach to the delivery of services. She has set up a technical group to develop a revised identification process for schools that might be brought into whatever new system is created.

The students from disadvantaged backgrounds need the intervention now. That they have been without that intervention since 2011 is offensive. That the Department is setting up some sort of framework to examine how they might be included in the future will inevitably give rise to undesirable circumstances. The students who are going through primary school and will subsequently go through post-primary school will have only one chance of availing of supports but if those supports are not in place now, they will not be able to avail of them.

See this speech in context