Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I very much recognise the needs of children from disadvantaged areas. That is why we have made changes to the scheme. We have made it clear that sponsorship should be interpreted broadly, particularly by Tusla. That has led to a significant increase in the number of children getting full hours through the sponsorship process. We also removed the wraparound hours, which will benefit 5,000 children. It is my hope that in next year's budget we will be able to begin to advance the DEIS measures. The Government has committed to the implementation of the public good document and the DEIS model is a key element of that. Obviously it is part of the budgetary cycle and something my Department has to go in and advocate for. We are not going to be able to introduce it fully in one budgetary cycle. I very much believe that a DEIS model, as is advised by that report, is crucial to supporting services in areas of vulnerability and that is a key priority for me.

See this speech in context