Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have more than 1,200 schools now in DEIS. One in four of all our students now benefit from DEIS supports. That is significant and we see its benefit. Keeping young people in school at a rate of 96%, compared with the EU, is quite an achievement. The Minister of State and I are very conscious about children and young people with additional needs. For that reason, we have a number of concentrated pilots. The Deputy is quite correct that when the right supports are put in place, children and young people have an opportunity to thrive. We see that in our own system. The Minister of State has articulated the variety of different special classes, special schools and additional supports that we are putting in place. We are also now putting in supports to transition from mainstream or special schools into further and higher education.

I want to be clear that considerable supports have been put into schools to support Ukrainian students or new students arriving. There are additional English as an additional language, EAL, hours and additional teachers coming into the system. It has been well resourced by the Department.

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