Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A range of resources are available to support schools in dealing with identified additional educational needs, including needs which may arise for children who are experiencing homelessness. These include National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, supports and Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, supports.

Identification of need and early intervention strategies are considered key components to supporting children who experience homelessness. NEPS works with schools through the Department of Education and Skills continuum of support framework. The NEPS model of service works through a problem solving and solution oriented consultative approach to support schools to meet the needs of individual pupils. NEPS psychologists can provide advice and guidance to principals and teachers on individual students' needs and in the development of whole-school approaches to support inclusion, participation and integration.

DEIS is the main policy initiative of my Department to tackle educational disadvantage. DEIS provides additional supports, through the DEIS school support programme, to schools identified as having the highest concentrations of pupils from disadvantaged communities. Schools can use the additional resources to meet the identified needs of their pupil cohort, including the additional needs that may arise for pupils experiencing homelessness.

DEIS schools can also avail of home school community liaison and school completion supports provided by Tusla's educational welfare service in relation to school attendance, retention and progression which can be areas of particular challenge to pupils experiencing homelessness.

In addition, the Department of Employment and Social Protection runs the school meals programme, which provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefitting 250,000 children. My Department is also represented on the homelessness inter-agency group established by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to co-ordinate the State's efforts to tackle homelessness.

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