Dáil debates

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

3:45 pm

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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28. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria used to allocate DEIS 1 and DEIS 2 status respectively; his views on whether the current criteria may not have been helpful to schools in Dublin Bay North and other constituencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10331/17]

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I know the Minister replied to questions on DEIS earlier but there are a number of concerns in our constituency, in particular in respect of St. David's boys national school in Artane and St. Joseph's in Fairview. There is much confusion around the criteria. I heard the Leas-Cheann Comhairle raise questions about the index used to establish what areas are eligible for DEIS and which would be DEIS 1 and DEIS 2. Will the Minister address that now if possible?

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Deputy heard the responses to the other questions. We have identified 79 schools and brought them in for the first time. These were the most disadvantaged schools that were completely outside DEIS. A further 30 schools which were within it at urban band two were identified and uplifted to urban band one. The Deputy will acknowledge that three of those schools are in his own area. One of those at post-primary is also in the Deputy's area. Four of the schools are in the constituency. That is probably better than average.

In terms of the way this is done, we have tried to move away from the old system, where data was randomly collected by principals. They looked at things like medical cards and random information was collected. Some schools did not apply at all. Some schools had very bad data and were left out. We are sourcing incontrovertible data from the CSO. We are using the children enrolled in the school to track back to the profile of the small areas from which they come. These would be areas of approximately 50 houses, typically a street. That is the way it is done. It is being applied evenly.

I recognise that it has to be refined but it is a very good first stab at something objective. We are letting 79 through, and uplifting 30, and we will look at this process again. This model has the advantage that we can track a school and changes in its demographic and social need profile. That allows us to try to be responsive to schools whose profile is changing.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank the Minister, but there still seems to be glaring inconsistencies. I mentioned two of the schools in our constituency, St. Joseph's and St. David's. In the case of St. Joseph's, there would be children coming from the adjoining areas of Dublin Central where clearly the model, or the index, would seem to indicate that school should be eligible for DEIS 1. Likewise, in the case of St. David's, where the adjoining school is a DEIS school, it seems to have been excluded. There does seem to be inconsistency. I know the Minister launched a programme in Darndale, in our constituency. There is a long tradition, as he will know, of major programmes being launched in that particular parish going back over 20 years. It was welcome, obviously, that Ardscoil La Salle, Scoil Chaitríona and so on were included, but there seems to be some major inconsistencies.

Is the Minister still hindered by the lack of funding? Although he announced an additional €5 million, looking back to the 2015 figure, it has still not been equalled. We still seem to have less money being spent on DEIS than was spent in 2015.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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To reassure the Deputy, it is not the catchment of the school. It is the individual children and from where they are drawn. A school could be in one catchment area but drawing its children from a different one. That will be picked up. It looks at the individual child and sources back to the street on which the child lives. That is the model used. It is being applied fairly. There is no question of unfair treatment. A school can seek a review. It picked up, as I said, three schools in our area, and 30 nationwide, to be uplifted. They were at the highest level of disadvantage and they were not being recognised in that category.

In terms of resources, €15 million in a full year is going into this. It is worth recalling also that I am putting €54 million into upgrading resource teaching, with 900 extra teachers. They will be going to schools where there is the highest level of learning need. We are not just approaching this through the DEIS model, but also through the resource teaching model. The objective that I am setting is to get to the child with the greatest need through both models. I am also trying to pilot new approaches. In the case of schools like the one in Darndale, which we visited and which is doing really interesting things, clusters have been built for the improved teaching of children. That sort of cluster building will be encouraged and good practice will be shared. We are trying to do much broader things than just listing the school number.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I welcome that. Clearly we have seen additional resources directed at the lowest socioeconomic areas in terms of income and resources. We have had some benefits with people staying in second level and then going on to third level, but there are some areas where third level access is still very poor because the children do not get a good enough start.

Is the Minister going to continue with the Haase-Pratschke index of deprivation? He said he might be reviewing its use down to September. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle raised issues in respect of County Donegal. Other Deputies also raised issues as did I in respect of my area but is it possible, therefore, that the Minister would be able to add to the list during the summer? I believe we are up to some 830 or so schools at the moment nationwide. Anomalies can be picked up on, such as in the case of St. David's boys' national school and the boys' school in Fairview. They should definitely be included because the current criteria have unfairly omitted them.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to acknowledge that there has been very good improvement. The progression rate in disadvantaged schools at second level was 68% and there was a 32% drop out rate. That has gone down to 17%. We want to bring that down to 10%, which is our objective under this plan. On the issue of the level of inclusion, at the moment about 19% of pupils in total are in the various disadvantaged area programmes. What we need to do over the long term is to make sure that resources in this area have an impact. We need to refine the model. That does not mean we should abandon that index approach but perhaps we will add new elements to it if that is deemed necessary.

I do not think anyone could doubt that the 79 schools, which are at the highest level of disadvantage on this measure, were entitled to be brought in as a first step. We will look at subsequent steps and we will try to refine and improve the interventions within the school as well as designations. We will try to achieve a more dynamic model. Hopefully, we will schools progressing out of DEIS status as well as schools coming in.

Questions Nos. 29 and 30 replied to with Written Answers.