Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

28. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the assessment methodology in respect of all schools applying for DEIS status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24778/17]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the assessment methodology relating to all schools applying for DEIS status.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

Schools are not required to apply for inclusion in DEIS.

The new DEIS identification process uses centrally-held data available to my Department to independently assess all schools in the country.

The DEIS identification process uses data supplied by schools to my Department's primary and post-primary online databases and Central Statistics Office, CSO, small area of population statistics from the national census of population as represented by the Pobal HP deprivation index. Variables used in the compilation of the HP index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels of parents, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. These data are applied uniformly to all schools in a fair and objective way to identify the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in each school.

An update of the DEIS identification process will take place later this year using 2016-2017 school data combined with small-area statistics based on the 2016 national census.

A communication for issue to all schools is currently being prepared. This will provide information on the identification model, with details of how the datasets are used to determine a school's level of disadvantage, the importance of data quality to the process and the need for schools to provide detailed and up-to-date school information to my Department.

It is important to note that the fact that a school has not been included in the DEIS programme on this occasion does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should its level of disadvantage warrant the allocation of additional resources.

Ongoing development work provided for in the DEIS plan 2017 includes consideration of a more tailored system of resource allocation, where levels of disadvantage identified and resources allocated match the identified needs of individual schools.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I do not accept any of that. The Minister spoke about fairness; there is no element of fairness. I called on the Minister to conduct an immediate review of the criteria under which schools are assessed for inclusion in DEIS. I spoke after five schools in Tipperary town along with the Holy Trinity school in Fethard were ruled out. The Minister said that there would be another scheme, but we have waited too long for this scheme to come. The fact that there is no application or appeal process is a farce. There must be some guidelines in that area. We know the benefit. The Minister has named the criteria and the schools in Tipperary town meet all of them. The five schools came together, thinking they were doing the right thing, to make a joint approach not to discriminate one from the others and the whole lot were left out without any explanation.

The Minister's recent announcement is the clearest indication yet that the criteria used to select schools for DEIS status are bordering on useless and the Department of Education and Skills itself has acknowledged this. There is something very serious here. The fact that there is no application process means they are left in limbo. Will we have to wait another eight years for another review? There is no clarity in respect of this matter.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy that this system was introduced following a careful review. A very detailed analysis of this was done before this system was introduced. The indicators that are being used, demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates, are found to be very closely associated with educational disadvantage, which is why they were chosen. They are also the objective criteria used by the CSO in drawing up the HP deprivation index. This is a selection based on a robust analysis of how to identify schools with high concentrations of disadvantage. They have been applied uniformly in all cases.

I would be the first to acknowledge that many schools did not qualify on this occasion. Only 79 schools qualified for an uplift on this occasion and 30 had their status changed, giving 109 in total. That is out of 4,000 schools whose status we could change on this occasion. It would be my ambition over time to extend this. As I said in the reply, we are now reviewing all the schools using the new census data so that schools that might have seen a deterioration or a greater indication of deprivation will be reviewed later this year. Through that review process we continually look at schools and assess their need for support in this way.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that. In Fethard the Holy Trinity national school has been left out. However, in the same town with the same demographics and other indicators the Minister mentioned, the secondary school has it. The feeder school with the young children does not. Therefore, that does not stand up. The five schools in Tipperary town came together. On all the indicators the Minister mentioned, unemployment, social class, single parent rate, Traveller children - you name it - we ticked all the boxes and yet the whole lot of them were totally excluded. I do not want to do down Tipperary town because it has very spirited people and great community activity. However, it has no industry and very few services. Successive Governments have forgotten about it. We clearly made a very passionate case.

How is the Minister saying this will continually be reviewed? How will the five schools in Tipperary town participate in that review? If there is no application process, how can they engage with the Department? Any Department inspector who might come in there to carry out a review would accept that the schools are doing a good job under the circumstances, but they badly need DEIS status. The same applies in Fethard where the secondary school has it and the only primary school in the town does not. Something is clearly rotten with that system. It is not functioning.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that at all. The reality is that 2% of schools were selected for DEIS categorisation, meaning that 98% were not selected. Deputies can always point to some school in that 98% that could represent disadvantage and I have no doubt that they do so in good faith. Only 2% of schools were uplifted, but these were selected on the highest level of disadvantage based on the objective criteria I read out earlier. This was not a phoney operation; it was done very objectively-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is all flawed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----against the criteria we are advised are the best associated with education disadvantage.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is flawed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The process looks at every pupil enrolled in each school. It goes right back to the origin of where they are living. It uses the indicators of disadvantage in those specific small areas to aggregate a picture of the level of concentrated disadvantage in the school. This is absolutely looking at the individual circumstances of each school. Every child is looked at under this review. Therefore, it is a fair and objective system.