Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 230: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a primary school (details supplied) in County Laois is designated disadvantaged; if it is in the DEIS scheme; if it is not, the reason for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32728/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The DEIS plan states that as well as provision being made for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage, financial support will also continue to be provided for other primary schools where the level of disadvantage is more dispersed.

The process of identifying 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. A review mechanism was put in place to address the concerns of schools that did not qualify for inclusion in DEIS but regarded themselves as having a level of disadvantage which was of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the programme. The review process operated 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. As a result of the identification and review processes, 673 primary and 203 second-level schools were invited to participate in the programme.

The school referred to by the Deputy was not identified for inclusion in the programme nor did it make an application for a review. The DEIS plan states that as well as provision being made for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage, financial support will also continue to be provided for other primary schools, not identified for inclusion in the SSP under DEIS, where the level of disadvantage is more dispersed.

I can assure the Deputy that the school referred to will continue to receive financial support in line with the level of disadvantage among its pupils for the duration of the DEIS action plan.