John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share time with Deputy Perry.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important issue which relates to the removal of a rural co-ordinator for a number of DEIS schools on the Mayo-Sligo border. This matter first came to light when the rural co-ordinator was withdrawn from non-DEIS schools in the area as a result of recent cutbacks. As a result, St. John's national school, Carramore, Kinaffe national school, Swinford, Castlerock national school, Aclare, and St. Attracta's national school Kilmactigue, have been left without either a home-school community liaison officer or a rural co-ordinator.

I am disappointed that the Minister for Education and Science is not present to take this matter. However, I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, is a fair-minded person and I urge him to obtain a successful resolution in respect of this matter.

The schools to which I refer have been informed that they will receive some form of grant in lieu. However, this can in no way replace the service on offer at present. Principals, teachers and parents have informed me about the wonderful service that the rural co-ordinator provides at present. She runs parenting, preschool and many other courses for each of the schools and undertakes home visits which create a healthy understanding among families and the schools their children attend and ensure that a holistic and caring education is delivered to those children. Rural co-ordinators have been one of the success stories of the primary education system in recent times. They give children in rural schools an even playing field and help to overcome disadvantage and isolation.

Any grant given in lieu of the loss of a rural co-ordinator, while a help, will not in any way replace what it is proposed to remove. A recent letter from the Department states that it is reclustering review considered the size and geographical proximity of other schools and indicated the service was withdrawn for this reason. Surely the overriding decision should have been based on the level of disadvantage. To be constructive, the schools in question produced a new cluster involving Lahinch national school, which would be an acceptable solution if it were taken on board.

In rural parishes the rural co-ordinator becomes the spokesperson for parents who will not or cannot speak for themselves. I appeal to the Minister of State to use his good offices to ensure those with responsibility for this decision change their minds. The savings obtained from removing the rural co-ordinator in the primary school cluster in question would be minuscule, whereas the loss of service would be substantial. I appeal to the Minister to reconsider the decision and allow the post to be retained in the schools in question.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Mahony for sharing time on this important issue. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, gave an undertaking that DEIS schools would not be subject to cutbacks. This offered some comfort to schools, staff and parents in disadvantaged areas. We are now witnessing the rolling back of this undertaking by the Minister with the axing of the vital service of rural co-ordinators in many DEIS cluster schools.

Kilmactigue national school and Castlerock national school in County Sligo are classified as DEIS schools, with the latter being the base school for a cluster of five DEIS schools. As a result of two schools within the cluster losing DEIS status, the cluster was broken up. Kilmactigue national school proposed a new cluster in order that the vital rural co-ordinator service could continue. However, it received a reply from the inclusion unit of the Department stating that having considered the size and level of disadvantage of the schools in question, their geographical location and proximity to other schools, it was not possible in the reclustering review to include all the schools in the cluster. For this reason, it was decided that some geographically isolated schools and-or have small enrolments were not entitled to a rural co-ordinator.

If the schools in question were deemed disadvantaged and warranted the appointment of a rural co-ordinator five years ago, what has changed in the meantime? The schools, which were classified as disadvantaged five years ago, are still disadvantaged and still have a low enrolment. The rural co-ordinator role was a vital link between the home and school for those families who needed it. It provided home school liaison programmes, as well as parenting and family support for those in disadvantaged areas.

This cutback is another example of the most vulnerable in society suffering as a result of a lack of prioritisation in the management of the rollout of funding. The very families who need these supports are now losing out through the withdrawal of the vital rural co-ordinator service, a decision which will place further strain on the resources of schools in disadvantaged areas. I call on the Minister to include the DEIS schools in question, Kilmactigue national school, Kinaffe national school, Lahinch national school, Castlerock national school and Carramore national school, in the cluster programme to ensure their rural co-ordinator service is retained. As Deputy O'Mahony stated, this is a vital service and maintaining it will not lead to additional costs. The Minister should take a common sense approach to the benefits of maintaining a rural co-ordinator for the schools in question. It would be easy to facilitate the retention of the co-ordinator.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Seán Haughey.

DEIS, the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated school support programme, SSP. DEIS brings together and builds upon a number of existing interventions in schools with concentrated levels of disadvantage. The process of identifying schools for participation in DEIS was managed by the Educational Research Centre on behalf of the Department and supported by quality assurance work co-ordinated through the Department's regional offices and the inspectorate. There are 876 schools in DEIS, comprising 673 primary schools — 199 urban band 1, 141 urban band 2 and 333 rural — and 203 second level schools.

Rural schools participating in the DEIS scheme have access to a rural co-ordinator serving a cluster of schools whose general functions include the development of home school community liaison, supporting the implementation of literacy and numeracy measures and planning supports. Some rural DEIS schools receive financial support as an alternative to rural co-ordinator services where the schools cannot be clustered.

The schools to which the Deputies refer were selected for inclusion under the rural element of DEIS. In the past, these schools were part of rural clusters which also comprised schools that were not included in DEIS but retained resources, including a rural co-ordinator service, under pre-existing schemes and programmes for addressing educational disadvantage.

When DEIS was introduced a commitment was given, as a concessionary measure to these non-DEIS schools, that they would retain a level of support for the duration of the current DEIS initiative which is scheduled to end in 2010. Owing to the current challenging economic climate, such supports are being withdrawn from non-DEIS schools from the beginning of the next school year. As a result, it has been necessary to recluster some DEIS schools which have to date been clustered with non-DEIS schools. As part of this process, all possibilities were explored to cluster schools, taking into account the size and level of disadvantage of schools, geographical location, the proximity of schools to each other and the overall resources available for this purpose.

It was not possible to include the schools referred to by the Deputy in a rural cluster. As a consequence, these schools will receive additional financial support from the Department in lieu of the rural co-ordinator service from the 2009-10 school year and will continue to receive the full range of supports provided to rural primary schools under DEIS.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Before concluding, I must advise Members that No. 23, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009, will now be sent to the Seanad.