Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for stepping in on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. I am here on behalf of St. Luke's National School in Tyrrelstown which was hoping that it would be awarded DEIS - Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools - status in the review of DEIS. It put a great deal of effort into the appeal. I have to say I am scratching my head to see this school not being brought into the DEIS system, and I cannot express the disappointment the school is experiencing.

DEIS supports schools and students with the highest level of concentrated educational disadvantage. Part of the problem is that Tyrrelstown is not ranked as disadvantaged or very disadvantaged in Pobal's Haase and Pratschke, HP, deprivation index, but the pockets of affluence mask extreme poverty. The experience on the ground with this school is poverty, deprivation and social challenges. I have 15 reasons that the decision to bring the school into DEIS should have been supported. It is a diverse, intercultural community. It borders on Buzzardstown, Mulhuddart and Corduff, areas that are considered disadvantaged or very disadvantaged, and some of the school's population comes from those areas. At times, the school has had over 90% of the school population requiring English as an additional language, EAL, support.Every year, it appeals its staff allocation and the appeal is granted. The school's note states that if it did not get EAL temporary posts each year, its three permanent teachers would have to cater to a ratio of 1:146 EAL pupils, an impossible task. The school carried out a home survey of its 590 pupils and found that 7.9% were Roma, 3.6% were homeless, the families of 47.5% held medical cards and both parents of only 12.5% were employed. This year, 85% of the school population required EAL support. As for school attendance, 31 families had been referred to the educational welfare service for unexplained absences of more than 20 days, while 187 pupils missed more than 20 days this year, but the school does not have a home-school liaison officer. It does not have a good level of parental involvement; in fact, it is very poor and the school has been trying to address that through integration projects. More than 50% of the children who attend the school fail to do their homework each evening, which is essential for literacy and numeracy skills.

A home-school liaison officer would be transformational for the school. It finds it very difficult to get the parents on board, in the context of the challenges the children face, with the help that is required such as speech and language therapy from Dyslexia Ireland, the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. Moreover, it is very sad that the school has a high number of referrals to the child protective services given, in the case of some of the families, corporal punishment can be the norm. This is all outlined in the school's submission. It operates a book-rental scheme and provides for children who come without lunches, and allows homeless families to use the school washing machine, tumble dryer and ovens. This school is doing all the things a DEIS school would assist pupils to do, but it is doing so out of its own pocket. I could also go on about assessments. I do not understand why this school was not brought into DEIS. It is a travesty.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. The Minister for Education sends her apologies that she cannot make it to the debate because she is in Cavan today, but she would like to have been part of the discussion.

In March, she announced a major expansion of the DEIS programme, for the first time since 2017, which means eligible schools will now gain access to targeted supports to address educational disadvantage. This is the largest ever single investment in the programme and it will extend DEIS status to schools serving the highest proportions of pupils at risk of educational disadvantage. From 2023, the Department of Education will spend in the region of €180 million on the DEIS programme, an increase of €32 million. This announcement follows extensive work by the DEIS technical group to develop the refined DEIS identification model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools.

Schools were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model, which is an objective, statistics-based model. While I understand the model has not picked up the school the Senator raised, the model uses information from schools’ enrolment databases and 2016 national census data, as represented by the Pobal HP deprivation index. The model takes into account the student cohort and the relative disadvantage within a given school.A detailed document outlining the refined DEIS identification model has been published on gov.ie. The DEIS identification model takes into consideration the significant educational disadvantage experienced by Traveller and Roma learners and by students residing in direct provision or emergency homelessness accommodation, which the Senator raised in the context of this discussion.

Schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data were provided with the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. Schools were also provided with the opportunity to update their details on the Department’s enrolment databases, namely, the primary online database, POD, and the post-primary online database, P-POD, and St. Luke’s National School submitted an appeal as part of this process. There was no change, however, to the outcome of the DEIS status of the school. The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly to all applicants using an objective data-based approach and the results are final.

I assure the Senator the Department of Education will continue to work to support all schools and students, including through the development of further supports for students experiencing educational disadvantage. Much of the information will have been analysed but if the school believes something was missed, I will certainly convey that to the Minister in order that it can be included in the assessment. The best option may be to engage directly with the Department in respect of additional supports that could be put in place to deal with all the other needs the Senator raised outside of the traditional DEIS model. There are resources that could be applied in that regard. I will certainly relay to the Minister that the Senator is concerned and the fact that, in light of the Senator’s data, she is scratching her head as to why the school was not included under the process. The Department spent many years developing that new model and I was a Minister of State at the Department during its early stages. A great deal of work was put into it and it should capture all schools that deserve DEIS status. In any event, I will bring the Senator's concerns to the Minister, who could not attend this debate.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and reiterate I appreciate he is in a difficult position in standing in for the Minister, Deputy Foley. I understand the next phase will explore the allocation of resources and that there will be an updated Pobal HP deprivation index in quarter 3 of 2023, but I do not understand why that could not have been done concurrently. Missing this school means there is something wrong with the process. How could there not be, given that the national average receiving a STen score of 1 in English is 2.3%, whereas the incidence in the school is 8%? Moreover, the school absences also tell a story. This school is stepping up and the staff are doing an incredible job. They are stepping in with supports the State should provide.

I will push for additional resources but, at the same time, the school needs a liaison officer and all the supports that come with DEIS status. Anything less than that does not amount to equality of opportunity.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I fully support the Senator. I have exactly the same issue with a school in Newbridge, Scoil Na Naomh Uilig. As I mentioned earlier in the context of another Commencement matter, every school should have a home-school liaison officer, along with all the other services that exist.