Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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Question 358: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if disadvantaged status will be granted to a school (details supplied) in County Leitrim. [33539/05]

John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 359: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the disadvantaged status will be granted to a school (details supplied) in County Leitrim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33671/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 358 and 359 together.

My Department's approach to tackling disadvantage has been refined in more recent initiatives to ensure that individual, at-risk pupils are targeted. Rather than the old method of designating schools as disadvantaged, we now provide supports that are commensurate with the levels of concentration in schools of pupils with characteristics that are associated with educational disadvantage.

The school to which the Deputy refers is included in the rural dimension of my Department's Giving Children an Even Break programme, aimed at combating educational disadvantage. The school receives additional financial resources to provide educational supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils.

A key element of delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, the new action plan for educational inclusion, is the putting in place of a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage in our primary and second level schools for the purposes of qualifying for resources, both human and financial, according to the degree of disadvantaged experienced. This standardised system will replace all of the existing arrangements for targeting schools for participation in initiatives to address disadvantage.

As a result of the identification process, approximately 600 primary schools, comprising 300 urban-town and 300 rural, and 150 second level schools will be included in a new school support programme, SSP. The SSP will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions for schools and school clusters and communities with a concentrated level of educational disadvantage.

We anticipate being in a position to notify participating schools regarding the outcome of the ongoing identification process by the end of the year.