Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 262: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the way in which a school, set up in September 2005, can have its entitlement to disadvantaged status established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5821/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The identification process involved a new survey carried out in May 2005 by the Educational Research Centre, ERC, of all mainstream primary schools and the updating by it of existing data sources on the levels of disadvantage in second level schools. 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 identification process is nearing completion and we anticipate being in a position to issue an invitation to selected schools to participate in the new integrated school support programme shortly.

Arrangements are also being made whereby schools established subsequent to the carrying out of the survey by the ERC can be assessed for possible inclusion in the school support programme. These arrangements will be communicated to schools in the near future.