Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy's point that one school in an area may be awarded DEIS status and another may not. However, because it is about concentrated disadvantage, that will be the case unless the other school absolutely mirrors school that is awarded DEIS status in terms of the entire student population. Again, I reiterate that a detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie. I also recognise that there is a need to target resources at those schools that need them most. The next phase of work, which I am undertaking now, will explore the allocation of resources to all schools to tackle educational disadvantage. This will involve consultation with all relevant stakeholders. We will seek to build on many of the positive initiatives from budget 2023, including the €50 million investment providing free books to primary schools, the reduction in class sizes for all schools and all the other initiatives that have been made available in the budget.

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