Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, for taking this matter. I was contacted by the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, earlier. I will take a wild guess that I might not be particularly impressed with the reply that is given, but I do thank the Minister of State for being here. From my point of view-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy must be optimistic. He has not got it yet.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Well, I am going to take a wild guess. I have a reply to a parliamentary question that provided me with some information prior to this. This matter relates to Scoil Bhríde Lann Léire. I visited the school and the relevant issues were pointed out to me. Rather than repeating how I responded to those issues, I will put on record the letter that was sent to me initially. It states, "Good morning Ruairí,I hope this finds you well. I'm contacting you because our school didn't received DEIS status in the latest round but our feeder secondary school, Scoil Uí Mhuirí achieved it". Scoil Mhuirí is also in Dunleer. The letter goes on to state:

We tick the boxes for DEIS status and I have spent the last 14 years lobbying quietly for it. I've been advised the latest DEIS status was given to schools on the basis of the 2016 census.

However, we have had a new social housing estate built behind our school and there is planning permission for 40 more to be built. Even without this new build, we have always believed that we are deserving of being a DEIS school, the reasons for which I would like to explain to you.

There are a lot of schools who are genuinely disappointed and feel unfairly treated and like us are struggling. We lack thefunding and personnel to meet the needs of everyone - pupils, staff and families. Staff morale is at a low and my time is taken up with trying to manage things, but my chief role should be to lead teaching and learning.

This is what we would hear from many principals about making sure that they can operate a school that can wash its own face and does not face significant issues.

Other issues that were brought to my attention by the principal included the grants calendar and the fact that the cost of living has increased but the capitation grant has not. The capitation grant is based on enrolment figures, but the building still needs to be heated regardless of the numbers in the school. We will always get anomalies on a year-by-year basis. This is an old building with a very old heating system. You will hear all those issues, including the fact that from time to time, the school cannot change the heating system to one it would like and is trying to keep this going - probably by using bailing twine and whatever else.

When I spoke to staff at the school a number of weeks ago, they told me that the school is still waiting for the refund for its secretary's salary paid over the summer. We need to make sure these pieces work a lot better. It will always be difficult for people to understand how the secondary school, which will have a similar cohort of children, can achieve DEIS status while others will not. Another school in the vicinity is Monastery National School in Ardee, which traditionally would have been the boys' school. This school got DEIS status but Scoil Mhuire Na Trocaire, which would have been the girls' school, did not. Again, this causes significant issues.

Regarding the DEIS identification model in the future, the reply to my parliamentary question said that:

In addition to this, following the National Census 2022 held in April 2022 it is envisaged that an updated HP Deprivation Index will be generated by Pobal and will be available in Q4 of 2023. My Department will engage with Pobal in relation to this process. The updated HP Deprivation Index can be considered by my Department to inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.

We really need to look at a better way of dealing with this. There are far too many anomalies and I think the Minister of State will agree regardless of his answer.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising this case of Scoil Bhríde Lann Léire in Dunleer. I appreciate his consistent advocacy on behalf of this school and the town of Dunleer.

The Department of Education provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the DEIS programme is a key policy initiative of the Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.

Schools that were identified for inclusion in the programme were those with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage as identified through the refined DEIS identification model, which is an objective, statistics-based model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model was applied fairly and equally to all schools.

Schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data were provided with the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants, however, this school did not appeal at that time. The window for appeals has now closed and the results, as the Deputy may be aware from parliamentary questions, are final.

The extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one component of work in the Department’s vision for an inclusive education system that supports all learners to achieve their potential. The Department has invited the OECD Strength Through Diversity: Education for Inclusive Societies project to review the current policy approach for the allocation of resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage in Ireland. This review will provide an independent expert opinion on the current resource allocation model for the DEIS programme and inform a policy approach for allocation of resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage attending all schools.

A number of measures were introduced in the budget to reduce the cost of education such as the provision of free school books for all primary and special school pupils and funding for hot meals. Crucially, as part of the cost-of-living and capitation funding package in budget 2024, the Department of Education secured €21 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and in the longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. The first-year cost of this increase is €7 million and the full-year cost in 2025 is €21 million, combined with €60 million in cost-of-living funding bringing the total to €81 million. This will support a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. This will bring the basic rate of capitation to €200 per student in primary schools and €345 in voluntary secondary schools. Enhanced rates will also be paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs. This represents an increase of circa 9.2% of current standard and enhanced capitation rates.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is the answer I anticipated. Dealing with the wider issue of DEIS, we all know that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. There will always be anomalies. I often think of Dundalk, where there is absolute deprivation side by side with people who are in a different socioeconomic bracket. The average, therefore, does not necessarily reflect the reality on the ground for some people. There needs to be an element of flexibility in the appeals process and, beyond that, there needs to be flexibility and a re-examination with regard to how DEIS is addressed. The whole idea behind DEIS to facilitate children and provide extra resources to schools so that they can provide the best education for children, particularly those in deprived areas.

I have thrown out some of the issues regarding new estates that have been built and so on. I accept that there will always have to be rules, regulations and criteria but we have to find a better way to look at this because we all hope that, in the future, we will be dealing with many new builds, whether for social housing or otherwise. We, therefore, need to make sure this happens.

There are very specific issues with regard to this school. We are talking about an older legacy building and its heating system. We need to find a means of dealing with that. If we are looking at the model for identifying DEIS eligibility, it would not make sense not to deal with all of these issues that we have at this point in time. I ask the Minister of State to talk to the relevant Ministers about looking at this school specifically to see if there is anything at all that can help them through the gap. The principal is under severe pressure to keep the school going and is trying to make sure the kids can get the education they require. The Minister of State can imagine what staff morale is like and the pressures they are facing.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Of course, I can imagine that. Everyone in this House deals with these issues every day and I have nothing but empathy and sympathy for principals, staff members, the schoolgoing children and their families and, indeed, the Deputy and his staff, who have to deal with this matter. That is why I will undertake to bring this to both the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who are absent, to make sure the case he has put forward so eloquently this evening is relayed to them in a proper and timely manner.

More widely, the Department of Education is progressing work on considering the allocation of resources to all schools. The OECD review will be complemented by a programme of work by the Department that will consider the allocation of supports within the DEIS resource model. This will involve consultation with stakeholders, including school communities. Scoil Bhríde Lann Léire will be very welcome to participate in that process. Along with the Deputy and everyone else in this House, I appreciate more than most the pressures on school principals, particularly in difficult schools or where they are teaching principals. While there is a rigidity with regard to appeals, we always need to be empathetic to the situation they are coming from and to react responsibly as we try our best, as both advocates and legislators, to make their lives a little bit easier and to make things easier for those communities in which they are teaching.

The work I have mentioned will be considered by the Department and Minister as part of wider policy formulation aimed at supporting all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, through their education and to achieve their potential. I do not need to go into the details of them because the Deputy will be aware of the many increases in teachers, special needs assistants and funding within the programme but these are also crucial in continuing investment in all education in this State.