Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has stated again that assurances were given. I am led to believe by my officials that that is not the case. They are and have been very clear in the replies to parliamentary questions and on other occasions too that assurances were not given because it was not in their gift to give them. They are very clear on that point and they are usually right on these things. They are also very good at keeping notes, as the Deputy knows because he has also been dealing with them for a long time. They are very clear that there was no discussion at the time on the DEIS status of the new school. Strange as it might seem, they are very clear on that point. As I said, I have always found them to be correct in their reports on meetings to me as Minister of State and everything else we do also.

It is not correct to say there are no supports available to the 450 pupils. I do not have the details of all the supports that are in place, but under the rules of the scheme, certain supports have been left in place for the number of eligible pupils. The Deputy said 450 students came from the DEIS school and that this would be recognised in the supports provided. I do not have the detail with me, but I will get it for the Deputy. However, I imagine substantial support is given to allow and cater for that position.

The Department has to operate the scheme as laid out when it was first put in place many years ago. Everyone agrees that it is worth reviewing the scheme. That is why the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is the first Minister to say we should have a review and implement any change that may be recommended. The review is under way and it is hoped the new, revised scheme will be in place by 2017-18. An important element of the review is the development of a robust and transparent identification process for the inclusion of schools in any programme to support children at risk of educational disadvantage. That is our aim. All schools which meet the criteria for inclusion in any given programme will be included. I assume and hope a submission has been made on behalf of the school in question by the Deputy and others as part of the review process. Certainly, there will be ample time to discuss it as matters move along.

As previously stated in replies to parliamentary questions and other discussions, the review process is under way. There will be no changes to the current scheme, including the addition of new schools, until the review has been completed. It is important to note that, in the meantime, schools established following the amalgamation of a DEIS school and a non-DEIS school, including the school in question, will continue to receive certain additional supports under the DEIS programme in respect of the pupil cohort from the former DEIS school. In this case, 450 students attended the DEIS school. The supports include financial assistance in the form of a DEIS grant and access to home-school-community liaison and school completion services. It is wrong to say there is no recognition of the issues involved or that there are no supports available. The scheme has done its best to recognise that extra supports should follow pupils in the school. It is probably not the full complement of supports a DEIS school would receive, but it was not within the gift of departmental officials to recognise it as a DEIS school under the scheme started many years ago.

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