Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to working with the Cathaoirleach during this term.

I call on the Minister for Education and Skills to review the process of selecting schools for participation in the DEIS programme. I have been contacted by the principal of the Assumption girls national school in Walkinstown, Dublin 12, who raised concerns with me about this process. The Assumption school is an island surrounded by DEIS schools. The selection process is not fit for purpose. The majority of indicators for DEIS selection relate to performance, with only one relating to socioeconomic measures. Therefore, the selection process penalises schools for doing well. A review of the DEIS selection method was promised in 2005 but nothing has happened to date. In April 2015, the then Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, undertook to conduct such a review but it has not been completed. As part of the Government's confidence and supply agreement, it was agreed that increased community-based intervention programmes would be initiated. Given the deprivation levels in Dublin 12 and the known socioeconomic problems relating to crime and poverty, the Government is not adhering to that agreement by excluding the Assumption school. The school is not a DEIS school but it has applied for and been granted developmental status. When it submitted an application for increased class sizes, it did so on the basis of numbers at the end of last term. Due to the housing crisis, though, and the fact that many parents have taken their kids out of the school to move to other parts of Dublin, the school's numbers will change and it may not be able to achieve the same pupil-teacher ratio. It is 30:1 currently whereas the ideal is 27:1. Will the Minister consider reviewing the DEIS selection process, not just in Dublin 12, but all over the country? Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí.