Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for selecting this matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, to the House.

Many schools in County Galway have recently lost the designation of disadvantaged. People at the coalface in those schools recognise they are being penalised for their excellence. This is true in the case of Mercy College, Woodford, County Galway, a second level school with an extraordinary commitment from staff, parents' association, board of management and students to achieving the highest possible educational standards. The school is in a CLÁR area which is in itself a recognition of this being a disadvantaged area and initiated by the Minister for Community, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív. It is also an area of declining population.

Under the old scheme of designated disadvantaged schools there were no indicators as to why certain schools were included, other than the fact that they were in disadvantaged areas. The benefits that those schools received and which they used with great effectiveness were extra capitation to spend at the discretion of the school, home-school community liaison officers, some teaching hours and extra guidance and other ancillary services.

In changing the criteria under the new DEIS scheme, the Minister has withdrawn some of those valuable support mechanisms and resources from the schools. If she is serious about commitment to the disadvantaged in education she has lost the plot in this instance. She stated that she has not written to the schools involved, but neither has she confirmed by letter that she is not withdrawing those supports. A home-school liaison officer in a school can be the means of keeping children at school and the withdrawal of this service is a serious blow to school management, teachers and students. It can be seen in no other light than that they are being penalised because of their super endeavour to help disadvantaged students by keeping them in second level education and helping them attain better results at both junior and leaving certificate level.

The Minister and the Department cannot stand over such extreme folly. If some of those students in urban areas drop out, the results are very serious in many cases. It is clear that under the criteria of the new scheme, DEIS, there is a bias towards major urban areas as against rural areas. It would be difficult to find an example of a similar secondary school in a rural disadvantaged area. The results of the support mechanisms in that school were obvious at both junior and leaving certificate level and in the retention rate.

The Comptroller and Auditor General in his recent report referred to the board with responsibility for supervising school attendance, the National Educational Welfare Board, and the HSE. He stated that the board had failed in dealing with the case where a child in a disadvantaged area missed more than 20 school days per year. The board has been ineffective in following through when children are absent from school for more than 20 days.

I ask the Minister of State to indicate to those schools included in the former disadvantaged status system that they too will retain their support mechanisms and resources and that the obvious imbalance between the urban and rural schemes will be eradicated. The new scheme introduced on 30 May 2006 was supposed to ensure equality within the education system but there is no equality in this new scheme. The scheme will be welcomed by certain schools because they have been included for the first time, but the 140 second level schools that have lost this designation feel aggrieved because they are being penalised for their excellence.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House about these schools.

Ensuring that children from the most disadvantaged communities in Galway and elsewhere receive the support they need to succeed at school is a key priority for this Government. To this end, we have significantly increased investment in tackling educational disadvantage in recent years. In 2007 we are providing nearly €730 million for targeted initiatives at all levels. This is an increase of nearly €95 million on the comparable 2006 figure. This investment supports the roll-out of additional supports under the DEIS action plan, through which 51 primary schools and 11 second level schools in Galway city and county will benefit from a comprehensive package of extra supports. Galway schools are well represented in the list of DEIS schools, making up nearly 12% of all the rural schools in the programme.

It is important to note that an independent review process was available to schools which did not qualify for the new programme. Additional schools were added to the programme as a result of making successful review applications. The Department of Education and Science is satisfied that all schools have been assessed on the basis of the best information available, ranked in terms of the correct criteria and given a fair opportunity to appeal.

Unsuccessful schools were advised at an early stage that they would be allowed to keep the supports they have under pre-existing schemes for the current school year. The Department of Education and Science is in the process of informing these schools that they will retain additional teaching resources for the duration of the DEIS action plan. The effectiveness of these posts will be reviewed in line with the ongoing review process in place for DEIS schools. It will be a condition of the retention of such posts that schools comply with any reasonable requirements of the review process.

Schools currently participating in the home school community liaison scheme will not be excluded from the scheme and, from the commencement of the 2007-08 school year, they will continue to avail of home school community support liaison services for the duration of the DEIS action plan. The level of service will be commensurate with the size of the school and its relative level of disadvantage.

Many schools retain additional capitation from previous schemes which have now been subsumed into DEIS. From the beginning of the 2007-08 school year this capitation will be offset against increases in the rate of general capitation. This process will take four years and will ensure that no school will experience a reduction in annual capitation as a result of this measure. Changes may arise from other factors such as enrolments.

I am satisfied that the Government has not only provided for a major increase in supports to our most disadvantaged schools through DEIS but has also addressed the concerns of schools which did not qualify for the new initiative. I thank Senator Ulick Burke for raising this matter.

Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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Will the Minister of State confirm that home school community liaison supports will continue to be available to schools which were informed they would lose such supports as and from January 2007?

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Schools currently participating in the home school community liaison scheme will not be excluded from the scheme and, from the commencement of the 2007-08 school year, will continue to avail of such services for the duration of the DEIS action plan.