Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 429: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a school (details supplied) in County Mayo has not been included in the current DEIS programme in view of the continuing deprivation in the area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17038/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Deputy would agree that it is important to make sure that schools serving the most disadvantaged communities get all the extra support possible and will welcome the extra resources that DEIS will provide. I can assure the Deputy that there is no reason for schools that were in receipt of resources under pre-existing schemes and that have not been identified for the new programme to worry as they will continue to get support in line with the level of disadvantage among their pupils. No school has been told that they will lose any resources as a result of DEIS. DEIS is designed to ensure that schools serving the most disadvantaged communities benefit from the maximum level of support available. Over the years, no less than 8 separate schemes for disadvantaged primary schools have been put in place. Some schools were benefiting from just one or two of these and others were benefiting from more. The DEIS initiative is designed to ensure that the most disadvantaged schools benefit from a comprehensive package of supports.

While the whole rationale behind the new programme is to ensure that the most disadvantaged schools benefit from all of the available supports, schools that are benefiting from existing schemes will keep the extra resources — financial and human — that they are getting under these initiatives for the 2006-07 school year. After that they will continue to get support in line with the level of socioeconomic disadvantage among their pupils.

A review process has been put in place for primary and second-level schools that did not qualify for participation in the new School Support Programme and that regard themselves as having a level of disadvantage which is of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the Programme. The review process will operate under the direction of an independent person, charged with ensuring that all relevant identification processes and procedures were properly followed in the case of schools applying for a review. The closing date for receipt of review applications was Friday 31st March, 2006. The school referred to by the Deputy has submitted a review application. It is intended that the review process will be completed by the end of the current school year.