Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

When teachers graduate from training colleges this year it is important for boards of management to realise that it is the policy of the Department of Education and Science that only in exceptional circumstances should they recruit unqualified teachers.

Anybody who reads the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General would say that in terms of disadvantage we should focus funding on real disadvantage. We set up an independent group to look around the country to identify what schools require to be designated under the DEIS scheme. That independent group indicated that 900 primary and post-primary schools should be included in the DEIS programme. I have ensured that all of those schools receive additional financial and other resources and I have indicated to them the need to focus and target the resources on disadvantage. The range of programmes and supports in those schools is extraordinary. There are school completion programmes and home liaison, and they work closely with the NEWB to support children in crisis.