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

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

Schools are not required to apply for inclusion in DEIS.

The new DEIS identification process uses centrally-held data available to my Department to independently assess all schools in the country.

The DEIS identification process uses data supplied by schools to my Department's primary and post-primary online databases and Central Statistics Office, CSO, small area of population statistics from the national census of population as represented by the Pobal HP deprivation index. Variables used in the compilation of the HP index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels of parents, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. These data are applied uniformly to all schools in a fair and objective way to identify the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in each school.

An update of the DEIS identification process will take place later this year using 2016-2017 school data combined with small-area statistics based on the 2016 national census.

A communication for issue to all schools is currently being prepared. This will provide information on the identification model, with details of how the datasets are used to determine a school's level of disadvantage, the importance of data quality to the process and the need for schools to provide detailed and up-to-date school information to my Department.

It is important to note that the fact that a school has not been included in the DEIS programme on this occasion does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should its level of disadvantage warrant the allocation of additional resources.

Ongoing development work provided for in the DEIS plan 2017 includes consideration of a more tailored system of resource allocation, where levels of disadvantage identified and resources allocated match the identified needs of individual schools.

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