Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The new DEIS plan for 2017 sets out our vision for future intervention in the critical area of social inclusion in education policy. The overall aim of the DEIS plan for 2017 is to build on the experiences of existing DEIS schools to inform how the education system can help in breaking down cycles of disadvantage through improved identification of schools and allocation of resources to support pupils most at risk. It sets out new targets to improve literacy and numeracy, school completion rates and progression to further and higher education. The plan also has a particular focus on identifying and embedding good practice through the development of pilot projects supported by a school excellence fund, and on encouraging better inter-agency working in and around DEIS schools.

To support the implementation of the actions contained in the plan, I have secured additional funding resources of €5 million under budget 2017 which amounts to €15 million in a full year, bringing the overall DEIS budget from the education sector to €112 million - Deputy Nolan quoted the DCYA and Department of Social Protection funding in her larger figure. In addition, DEIS schools have access to the home school community liaison service and the school completion programme under the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the school meals programme operated by the Department of Social Protection. The Deputy will have read that they have also increased their budget to provide more from the Department of Social Protection.

A key element of the DEIS plan is the availability of a new identification process for the assessment of schools for inclusion in DEIS using centrally held CSO and DES data. As noted in the DEIS plan, the implementation of a new objective central data-based model of identifying levels of disadvantage within school populations will be followed by a further programme of work to create a more dynamic model for resource allocation where levels of resource more accurately follow the levels of need identified by the identification process.

The DEIS plan also provides for the establishment of a unit in my Department to facilitate the operation of pilots to promote the clustering of schools to develop innovative practice and for the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure effective evaluation of resource inputs and educational outcomes to provide feedback to schools and inform future policy.

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