Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy and appreciate the example she outlined. I know in some situations there may be two schools next to each other where one is included in DEIS and the other is not. Siblings from the same household might even be going to both schools. Because of the way the DEIS programme is applied now, it is based on the population in the school and it is possible to have differentiations. Even though students might be coming from three DEIS schools into another school, the overall make-up of the school may not hit the DEIS criteria or fit the bands or levels. I wish to ensure - it is difficult because there will always be somebody outside of the criteria that we have to put in place - that children in non-DEIS schools still get that support. This is really important in the context of the new DEIS plan, as is the case now.

We have several pilots under way that involve schools getting the home school liaison and school completion programmes even though they are not designated as DEIS schools. It is about expanding this out. Historically, we know there are schools that had those positions even before the DEIS programme was in place. There is one in Navan, where I recently met students. The only reason those students are still in school and doing their leaving certificate is because of those positions. I hope the new plan will create as fair a system and structure as possible and also ensure that where schools are not designated, and some of them will not be, they can still get those targeted supports directly to the students who need them.

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