Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I reiterate that the Government is committed to tackling child poverty and it sees education as a key enabler to achieve that. The development of the DEIS plus scheme will be a further positive step in this commitment to lifting more children out of poverty to give them the futures they deserve. Since its introduction the DEIS programme has tackled the impact of poverty through supporting the improved attendance and progression of children and young people experiencing poverty. It has also improved education attainment levels, which create greater opportunities for employment and enhanced career pathways. The development of the new DEIS plus scheme will be a key part of a new DEIS plan, which will be published this year. The new DEIS plan will set the long-term direction on supporting children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage and on empowering them to achieve their potential. The plan will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. It will also look to develop more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage and to work towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.

The DEIS plan will be published this year. I completely appreciate the efforts of the Labour Party in publishing a costed budget with a focus on education, on trying to remove those gaps within education, and on the supports for disadvantage areas while also continuing a lot of the supports that were introduced by the previous Government, including the hot meals scheme. I appreciate that.

It is really important we are having this discussion. We are all behind the establishment of DEIS plus and the expansion of those DEIS services. As the Deputy and the Minister have said, education is the key tool in addressing any of those socioeconomic issues that we have.

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