John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Senator may be aware, an extensive identification process to select schools for inclusion in DEIS was conducted in 2005. This process took the form of an invitation to schools to apply to participate in the programme by way of a completed survey of their pupil cohort. This is new to me but she is correct that a number of reminders were issued to the school in question by my Department, a completed survey form was not received and, therefore, it could not be assessed for participation in the programme. Departmental officials say those are the criteria they laid down; I did not lay them down. They say on a number of occasions they contacted the school. Further, an appeal mechanism was put in place in 2006 to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in the DEIS programme, but regarded themselves as having a level of disadvantage sufficient to warrant their inclusion. lnver national school did not participate in that process. I do not know if the Senator is aware of that. I accept there is a difficulty with the school and based on what she has said, it should probably be included in the programme. Officials say reminders were sent on two occasions and the school did not participate in the process. The Department has no information about the school, apart from that furnished by Members when raising the issue in the Dáil and the Seanad.

Many representations were made to my predecessors on behalf of this school seeking its inclusion in DEIS. These representations were unsuccessful. No schools which were unsuccessful in the initial identification and subsequent review processes were ever admitted Into the DEIS programme. As the Senator may also be aware, a process to review DEIS, which began last year, is almost complete and it is my intention to publish a new plan for educational inclusion before the end of this year. The review is examining all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the school support programme, and the potential for innovation within and between schools and its scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and agencies.

No new school has been included in DEIS since 2009, but now a new assessment framework is being developed using centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of new schools for inclusion. The number of schools to be included in the programme will be determined by this proposed new identification process, which will assess all schools in the country, including those not currently participating. It is important to note that it will not be necessary under this new arrangement - this may solve the problem for the Senator - for schools to make an application as all schools, including Inver national school, will be automatically assessed. The school will not have to apply for the new assessment and it appears, based on the school's history and the Senator's contribution, it will be included. That could be sorted following the automatic assessment.