Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with my other colleagues who put forward this proposal along with the principals because it makes eminent sense. Many people entered this House for many different reasons, to fight many causes, but all of us are united by the idea that there are children who are born who deserve equal opportunity, that they deserve to be supported and that education is a place where that can be done very powerfully. In Fianna Fáil, we are very proud of the DEIS programme. It was something we established in 2004, 20 years ago. You would like to think over 20 years the level of ambition would change. While we have expanded DEIS with additional funding of €32 million and hundreds of additional schools being included only last year, it is time now to look again and see a programme that made a real difference. The OECD review report refers to closing the achievement gaps particularly in reading, retention and in other areas. The programme had a real impact. The question is can we do more. What more can we do now to tackle disadvantage? As to the model of having DEIS+, the asks are very simple. They are not incredibly complex. In many ways, they are the asks that fall into other areas such as children with additional needs and so on. As Deputy Murphy said, it can be delivered with a relatively small amount of money but it requires a shift in the Department now to think what more can be done in the next 20 years. DEIS+ is one of the places in which we can do that.

We are talking about schools here that do not just have a slightly higher level of need; they have an incredibly higher level of need. They are dealing with children where often there is very little family support or where there are very complex needs and in-built trauma not just in one generation but perhaps in two. The teachers are also operating in classes where there are a lot of demands and challenges in the one-class environment. The reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio is really important under DEIS. Can we do more? Nurture rooms, that is, places where people can step out of the classroom environment to regulate emotion and to seek additional support could be provided as could multidisciplinary teams. This is a very positive measure that everybody should be behind.

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