Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 590: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which the DEIS plan which she launched in 2006 is working on addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5460/07]

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 an integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The new plan is the outcome of the first full review of all programmes for tackling educational disadvantage that have been put in place over the past twenty years.

The new action plan represents a shift in emphasis away from individual initiatives, each addressing a particular aspect of the problem, with the new plan adopting a multi-faceted and more integrated approach. This is the first time that an integrated educational inclusion strategy has been developed for 3-18 year olds in this country.

The key principle of early intervention underpins the early childhood education measure, the literacy and numeracy measures and those for tackling early school leaving being adopted under the action plan.

Also central to the success of the action plan will be an increased emphasis on planning at school and school cluster level, target-setting and measurement of progress and outcomes to ensure that the increased investment is matched by an improvement in educational outcomes for the children and young people concerned.

As a result of the identification and review processes, 873 schools have been invited to participate in the new Programme. These comprise 670 primary schools (338 urban/town schools and 332 rural schools) and 203 second-level schools.

In respect of the 2006/07 school year, grants amounting to approximately €7.7 million due to the 670 Primary schools which are participating in the DEIS Initiative were lodged to their schools' bank accounts on 17 November 2006. This is in addition to payments totalling €1 million which issued to those schools in June 2006.

In the order of €4.7 million was paid in the course of the 2006/2007 school year in respect of the 203 Post Primary schools participating in the initiative and 80 Post Primary Schools receiving grants under pre-existing schemes. Also on 17 November 2006, approximately another 1,900 primary schools received some €4.1 million of grant assistance to assist them with their respective levels of dispersed disadvantage.

In addition to supplementary financial assistance which is provided to schools in DEIS, the following measures have been rolled out under the action plan in the current school year 2006/07. Urban/town primary schools with the highest concentrations of disadvantage were targeted to benefit from maximum class sizes of 20:1 in junior classes and 24:1 in senior classes. Administrative principals were allocated on lower enrolment and staffing figures than apply in primary schools generally to all urban primary schools. The Reading Recovery Programme has been extended to schools in Cork, Limerick and Galway. Rollout is underway of Home/School/Community Liaison (HSCL) and School Completion Programme services for urban primary and second level schools not already in receipt of these services. Additional funding has been provided under the School Books Grant Scheme to support schools with the establishment, development and ongoing operation of book loan/rental schemes. Access to the Department of Social and Family Affairs' School Meals Programme is being extended for all schools not already benefiting from the programme.

Planning and preparatory work are also underway in the following key areas: targeted early childhood education provision for urban primary school communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage; school planning, target-setting and ongoing review processes, including the putting in place of templates for the development of three-year action plans at school level; establishing the new sabbatical leave scheme and enhanced professional development for principals and teachers.