Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) in Dublin 24 which, in spite of its catchment and pupil background, has not been granted disadvantaged status. [19247/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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As the Deputy is aware, DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) is my Department's action plan for educational inclusion, and provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and an integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The action plan has been rolled out over the period since 2006. 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. The ERC's overall approach was guided by the definition of educational disadvantage set out in the Education Act (1998), as: "...the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education in schools".

The school to which the Deputy refers was among a number of schools that was 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. A review mechanism was put in place in 2006 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. The review was concluded and the results were notified to schools who applied for the review in August 2006. There was no application for review received from the school in question.

An evaluation of DEIS has been undertaken by the Educational Research Centre on behalf of the Department and a report of this evaluation is being finalised and is expected to be made available in the autumn. It is expected that the evaluation will inform any future changes to the current programme. There will not be an opportunity to consider the inclusion of this school or any other school in DEIS until this process has been completed.