Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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22. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which schools are judged for DEIS status; if he is satisfied that all schools in disadvantaged areas are receiving the support and resources they need; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10503/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The shame and obscenity of child and family poverty, deprivation and now homelessness has increased dramatically and consistently in the years since Fine Gael has been in government. One way the Minister can try to address that is to give resources to pupils in disadvantaged schools but the criteria for allocating DEIS status are not doing that for schools in my area. Even where schools have DEIS status, they are not getting the resources they need to give decent conditions for the teaching of pupils in these deprived and disadvantaged areas.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that a key element of the DEIS plan for 2017 is the availability of a new identification process, as we have discussed, and which I outlined to the other Deputies.

In terms of the data sources, for example, they are using age dependency, levels of population decline, the education status of the families, overcrowding in the households, the occupations, unemployment levels and so on. They are using very objective data for identifying schools that are serving populations of greatest need. This is a best international practice model. As the data becomes available, it also allows us to track schools as they progress and allows for a more refined model responding to the need.

In the initial round, I was able to let through 79 schools that were at the highest level of disadvantage. There has not been an increase since 2009 of schools coming through that process. I am fully aware that there are other schools that have levels of disadvantage that need attention in the future and I will work to include those over time, but this is an area where we need to make improvements.

It is worth pointing out to the Deputy that it is complemented by the 900 extra teachers I am putting in for learning support and special need. All of those will be going to the schools with the greatest established need in terms of learning support or special need. There are two interventions that will help disadvantaged schools in the Deputy's area or in any area, namely, this new designation but also the work to make sure that resource teachers are following the areas of greatest need.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Gaelscoil Phádraig, in Loughlinstown, was refused DEIS status on its application. This is in an area where every other school in the area has DEIS status because it is an area of high disadvantage. The Minister's criteria are not fit for purpose in judging these matters. For example, because they take into account where the children live, children who are living in emergency accommodation - homeless children - but who happen to be living in emergency accommodation in Blackrock are not considered to be disadvantaged because the criteria do not take into account that they are in homeless accommodation. If someone is in homeless accommodation, it does not matter whether they are in Blackrock, Ballyfermot or Ballymun. They are homeless and disadvantaged and the school that has such children deserves DEIS status. Gaelscoil Phádraig has been given the run-around for two decades. It is in prefabs for the past decade. It was promised a school a decade ago. It never got it, and now it has been refused DEIS status. The Minister would want to get his criteria together. This particular school deserves DEIS status as well as a new school building.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The truth is that I was able to allow 30 schools move from urban band two to urban band one and to provide for 15 new urban band one schools. We identified 45 of the most deprived schools in the country to get the support of not only additional pupil-teacher ratios, access to the free meals scheme and access to the DEIS grant, but also access to a smaller class size. We used objective national criteria to pick the schools. Schools can seek a revision if they believe their pupils have not been properly judged under the system. They can indicate those children and that position will be reviewed in respect of each school but I hope the Deputy would agree that rather than have political criteria, we should use objective criteria generated by the CSO statisticians who can be relied on for their objectivity to make such choices. We then invest that resource in the areas where the greatest need is identified, and that is what I have done. On average, about two schools per constituency have been brought in. In every constituency I could name another school, as I am sure could the Deputy, that has not got in on this occasion but it is a first step. We will refine this process not only in terms of the choice of schools, but also what happens to support children within those schools.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I ask the Minister to review the decision on Gaelscoil Phádraig. It is in a disadvantaged area which nobody would doubt. The children in the school suffer disadvantage and have been shafted for 20 years. Even schools with DEIS status are not being resourced properly. The Holy Family school in Dunedin Park in Monkstown Farm applied for permission to undertake a summer works programme to put a fire alarm system in place and carry out emergency heating works. It was also looking to replace a water tank which was 50 years old, almost certainly unsafe and situated over a boiler. It received half of the money it needed to do all of these things; therefore, it cannot do them. It received half of the money it needed for the cheapest quote it could get. If even schools with DEIS status do not receive the resources they need, we have a problem. The school was also refused extra teachers to improve the pupil-teacher ratio. Will the Minister consider the Holy Family school in Dunedin Park and Gaelscoil Phádraig in Loughlinstown because they are in seriously disadvantaged areas and have been given a very raw deal on a number of fronts?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that Ministers do not look at schools and make a decision. It is based on fair and objective criteria, not political choices.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am looking for fairness.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Urban schools in band one have a lower class size; on average, they have five pupils fewer per class. They receive a DEIS grant, a book grant and access to a home-school-community liaison teacher. They have a school completion programme at second level, as well as a school meals programme. These funds are significant. A very disadvantaged urban school in band one could, on average, receive almost €1,500 per pupil. This is putting in place hard resources to support the education of children and it is being done fairly. What we are also trying to do - I believe the Deputy will support this - is to introduce pilot schemes and clusters to look at really good practice and how we can mainstream it and ensure that when children enter these schools, they are fully engaged and brought on a pathway that will privilege them and see them make progress. We are not just looking at this matrix in the examination of schools. We want to ensure that what happens in the schools is the best it can be. As the Deputy knows, I have set the ambition that within a decade we will have the best approach to education, particularly for children who endure disadvantage and with special educational needs. That is one of our ambitions and we will implement it with this goal in mind.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Will the Minister look at the schools mentioned?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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They will have to submit for review. The summer school works programme does not come under DEIS.