Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 1436: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the situation regarding disadvantaged schools and the Revitalising Areas by Planning Investment and Development scheme in particular to the northside of Dublin. [43969/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion will focus on addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from preschool through second-level education (3 to 18 years). The action plan provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP).

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.

The process of identifying primary and second-level schools for participation in DEIS was managed by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) on behalf of my Department and supported by quality assurance work co-ordinated through the Department's regional offices and the Inspectorate.

As a result of the identification and review process, 104 schools in the northside of Dublin were invited to participate in DEIS. These comprised 77 urban primary schools and 30 second-level schools. This represents over 13% of all schools included in the DEIS initiative nationwide.

There are currently 87 of these primary and secondary schools in Rapid or LDTF (Local Drug Task Force) areas on the northside of Dublin.