Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I now call on the Minister to reply.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to join in welcoming Mr. Bernard Dunne and the staff of the Chinese Embassy, some of whom I have already met. I also wish to welcome the school students from Enniskillen who are in the Visitors Gallery. I met them coming in the door earlier.

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this issue. I absolutely concur with him that this is a very important issue. As he is aware, I announced a process for a review of the DEIS programme last year. The overall scope of the review is to assess the existing DEIS programme in the context of evaluations to date, and any relevant policy and other developments in order to inform future policy on educational disadvantage.

This DEIS review process is now well under way with the majority of the work being undertaken during the course of the current 2015-16 school year. It is envisaged that the new identification process and a revised framework of supports will be in place for the 2017-18 school year.

One of the first tasks conducted, as part of the review process, was an invitation to the education partners to make submissions on their experience of DEIS and on suggestions for future interventions. These submissions are available on my Department's website and will inform the overall DEIS review. The general guidelines with regard to the review are also on the Department's website.

A technical working group within my Department is considering appropriate eligibility criteria to assist with the identification of the level of need in schools. This work is currently under way with a view to completion during the current school year. That will be added to the information that is already on the website.

Any revised identification process for schools will be clearly set out and communicated to schools. An advisory group has also been established to review the current supports available under the DEIS programme and make recommendations for a revised framework of appropriate supports, as well as a suitable monitoring and evaluation framework.

As is the case with the identification process, any change to the existing school support programme will be clearly set out and communicated in advance. As Senator Craughwell so rightly said, there are issues across other Government Departments as well.

Socio-economic differences and the link to poorer educational outcomes cannot be viewed in isolation from the broader social context. Therefore, I have established an interdepartmental working group in order to ensure a more joined-up and consistent approach to service delivery in the future.Representatives of relevant Departments and agencies are reviewing their current inputs to the DEIS programme in order to make a more cohesive contribution to the overall framework of supports to combat educational disadvantage. That will include the Departments of Social Protection and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. I understand the Department of Health has an input as well and there may be other relevant Departments.

All of the groups that I have mentioned are part of the overall review of DEIS. It would be premature at this stage to outline what funding will be made available in advance of the various groups finalising their work and recommendations for a new framework of supports. Once this work has been completed, the costs associated with additional and-or new supports will form part of the overall consideration of the new programme to tackle educational disadvantage. Such consideration will take place in the context of the overall budgetary planning process.

I wish to add that DEIS was established in 2006. One of the problems has been the fact that it is impossible to join the scheme, even for new schools. There are also issues around amalgamated schools and a number of other issues. Overall, there has been positive progress. We want to maintain what is good about the programme at the moment but we think it is time to have a review.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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I take what the Minister has said. She has worked hard and done an excellent job even as we approach an election. I hope that we will see her back here and that when the next Government is formed we would move rapidly towards identifying schools. I am aware of a school in Galway that I will not name but I may come back to the Minister about it. The school is surrounded by a fairly well-to-do area but a huge number of Traveller children attend the school. It would qualify on every level for DEIS status but for some reason such status has been impeded.

I would prefer if the Department of Social Protection, rather than funding the school meals programme, gave a grant to the Department of Education and Skills. Such an initiative would allow the Minister or her successor to utilise the money in the best way possible rather than having a cross-departmental thing. I can understand how the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Health might have to work with the Department of Education and Skills. The funding from the Department of Social Protection should be ring-fenced and handed to the Minister for Education and Skills thus allowing her to deal with the entire programme of meals and education, which is something similar to what happens in the UK.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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First, we are going to develop a transparent identification process. That work is under way at the moment. Any school that meets the criteria for inclusion in the new programme will be included and that is an undertaking.

Second, a forum will take place in the spring. I do not know whether I will be the Minister at that point but I thank the Senator for his good wishes.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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We wish the Minister well.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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One way or the other, a forum will be held in the spring to further engage with relevant stakeholders on the review process. This will include a discussion on the process used to identify schools for inclusion and the proposed framework of supports to be deployed. I imagine that the issues about interdepartmental co-operation and whether certain things should move from one Department to another will probably form part of the discussions on the various programmes for Government which will also, I presume, feed into this process.

Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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The Independent Alliance group will support the Minister.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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That is good to hear, Senator. We all know that this is an important programme. For example, literacy and numeracy results in DEIS schools have improved significantly. We want to make sure that we keep what is good about the programme but we must also broaden opportunities for schools like the one mentioned by the Senator that are excluded at the moment.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.