Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 568: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his views on allocating an extra home school liaison position to serve primary level schools in an area (details supplied) in County Mayo to the two secondary schools who are losing their existing home school liaison service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10098/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The two post primary schools to which the Deputy refers are among a number of schools that were judged by an independent identification process in 2005 not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage among their pupils to warrant their inclusion in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. The next identification process is scheduled to be held at the end of the current DEIS programme which runs from 2005 to 2010.

Following the introduction of DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools), a commitment was given, as a concessionary measure, to Non DEIS schools in receipt of resources under pre-existing schemes, including the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) service, that they would retain a level of support in line with their size and disadvantage levels for the duration of the DEIS Initiative.

Given the current volatile and challenging economic climate, difficult choices had to be made in order to contain public sector spending. One of these decisions is the withdrawal of the HSCL services from all Non DEIS schools with effect from September 2009. The two post primary schools mentioned by the Deputy will lose their HSCL services at the end of the current school year.

The main focus of Social Inclusion measures will be to retain resources in DEIS schools. There is a need to focus targeted resources on the schools in most need and this approach is in line with the broad thrust of the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General which are set out in his report on Primary Disadvantage of 2006, which recommended that my Department should focus its educational disadvantage measures on those schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

It has been necessary to re-cluster some DEIS schools that previously shared HSCL posts with non DEIS schools. The two primary schools, which were clustered with the post primary schools now losing HSCL services, will receive additional HSCL services as they have been re-clustered with another primary school in the town. The three schools will have the services of 2 HSCL coordinators for the 2009/10 school year.