Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 518: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will address an anomaly in the DEIS criteria whereby a junior school in a disadvantaged area allocated band two is included under Giving Children An Even Break which the senior primary school to which these students progress and which is also allocated band two is not included; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18403/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). This standardised system replaces all of the existing arrangements for targeting schools for participation in initiatives to address disadvantage.

The School Support Programme will bring together, and build upon, a number of existing interventions in schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. The action plan is being introduced on a phased basis, starting during the current school year. It will involve an additional annual investment of €40m on full implementation. In addition, supports will continue to be provided for schools where the level of disadvantage is more dispersed.

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 ensuring that others continue to get support in line with the level of disadvantage among their pupils.