Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department will re-assess the DEIS programme in view of the fact that a number of schools in County Donegal in a disadvantaged area will lose out due to the new programme; when the results of the review mechanism will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21196/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I want to state emphatically that no school has been told that they are going to lose any of the resources that they have been receiving under existing schemes for tackling disadvantage as a result of the introduction of the new DEIS initiative. On the contrary, the new School Support Programme is aimed at providing even more extra resources for the most disadvantaged schools in the country.

Schools that did not qualify for the new programme will keep the extra resources they are getting under existing schemes for the 2006/07 school year and after that they will continue to get support in line with the level of disadvantage among their pupils.

The new DEIS programme will be of huge benefit to schools in Donegal. 5 urban/town primary schools, 74 rural primary schools and 12 second — level schools in Donegal have been invited to benefit from all the resources available from the new programme. Indeed the largest number of rural schools invited to benefit from the new programme in any county are in Donegal. 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 for Donegal schools.

It is precisely with this goal in mind that DEIS was designed. For example, 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.

I can assure the Deputy that there is no reason for schools that haven't 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 in Donegal has been told that they will lose any resources as a result of DEIS.

A review mechanism has been put in place to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in the School Support Programme but regard themselves as having a level of disadvantage which is of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the Programme. This mechanism 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 review process is underway and it is intended that it will be completed by the end of the current school year.