Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 6: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason he has cut the non-DEIS schools programme that has been in place in the Clonmany parish of County Donegal since 2001, in view of the fact that in May 2007 the four schools received a written commitment from his Department that the programme would remain in place until the conclusion of the DEIS; his views on reversing this cut in view of its fundamental importance to the schools in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8048/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The schools to which the Deputy refers are among those that were judged by an independent identification process in 2005 not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage among their pupils to warrant their inclusion in DEIS, the action plan for educational inclusion. The next identification process is scheduled to be held at the end of the current DEIS programme, which runs from 2005 to 2010. There will not be an opportunity before this for inclusion in the current DEIS programme of supports.

A review mechanism was put in place in 2006 to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in DEIS, but which regarded themselves as having a level of disadvantage that was of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the programme. The review process operated under the direction of an independent person, charged with ensuring that all relevant identification procedures were properly followed in the case of schools applying for a review. The review was concluded and the results were notified to schools in August 2006. The four schools in question applied for a review at that time but they were unsuccessful in qualifying for inclusion in DEIS.

The schools involved retained resources, including additional capitation and a shared rural co-ordinator post under pre-existing schemes and programmes for addressing educational disadvantage. Following the introduction of DEIS, a commitment was given, as a concessionary measure to non-DEIS schools in receipt of such resources, that they would retain a level of support in line with their size and disadvantage levels for the duration of the DEIS initiative.

It is appreciated that the discontinuation of these resources will impact on the schools concerned. However given the current volatile and challenging economic climate, difficult decisions had to be made in the 2009 budget in order to contain public sector spending. One of these decisions was to advance the withdrawal of such supports from non-DEIS schools to the beginning of the next school year.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The main focus of social inclusion measures will be to retain resources in DEIS schools. There is a need to focus targeted resources on the schools in most need and this approach is in line with the broad thrust of the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General. These are set out in his report on primary disadvantage in 2006, which recommended that my Department should focus its educational disadvantage measures on those schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Barrett spoke earlier about an antiquated aspect of the educational system. There are positive aspects to this scheme. It was administered by one person and the total administration cost was about €25,000 per year. We are concerned here with the north Inishowen area of Donegal. In my constituency of Donegal North East, 53% of young males leave school at 16. That compares with a national figure of 35%. That is a massive disparity.

In this scheme, four national schools came together to provide support and capacity between parents and teachers, started engaging with communities, and increased the level of student participation at national school. The results are transparent and are there to see. This has been an outstanding success since 2001.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy must ask a question.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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In light of this outstanding success and in light of the fact that this is a particular geographical, sensitive area in terms of early school leaving, should we not be evaluating the good schemes and looking at their benefits? This would be a better approach than imposing a rigid rule for the whole country.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy is now making a Second Stage speech.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that the Deputy is making a particular case for schools in his constituency, but also raising general issues. Not every school in the country should be classified as disadvantaged. These particular resources were given on a concessionary basis. All the evidence shows that we need to focus our resources to combat disadvantage. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on primary disadvantage in 2006 also recommended this. If a concession was made for those schools in Donegal, then other schools would feel aggrieved because they would be losing resources.

I accept that these provisions were working well, but due to the difficult financial situation, and because of the concessionary nature of these supports, it was necessary to bring forward their withdrawal. Ultimately, we need to focus our resources on combatting disadvantage.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to apologise, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I am new to the House and I did not know the difference between a Second Stage speech and a priority question.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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He will learn pretty quickly.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister of State accept that the 53% statistic is acceptable? Does he accept that it is wrong for his party to give a written commitment to these four schools in 2007 that the scheme would stay in place, and then to renege on that commitment?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Minister of State is only responsible for his ministerial duties here.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I must re-iterate that these resources remained in place on a concessionary basis. There are other things happening in the Department, such as home school community liaisons, the schools completion programme, the national education welfare board and so on. These and other developments in the Department can deal with the problems to which the Deputy referred.