Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In February 2017, Tipperary town primary schools were overlooked for inclusion in the DEIS programme.

This omission was blatantly wrong. After a determined campaign to highlight the injustice, the Department of Education yielded to pressure and agreed to appoint an inspector to review the circumstances of all five primary schools. After extensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders and a thorough examination of statistics and facts, the inspector filed a comprehensive report. The report concluded that levels of deprivation were extremely high, and that no other town in Ireland of a similar size had as high a level of disadvantage. In response to a glaring deficit in supports, an interim package of resources was agreed by the Department and implemented across the five schools. That package remains in place. However, these schools are awaiting confirmation of full band 1 DEIS status, which, I understand, cannot be granted until the national review of all schools is complete. When will this national review be finalised and published to include the Tipperary schools for full DEIS status?

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