Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on the proposed abolition of the Educational Disadvantage Committee, EDC, contained in the Education (Amendment) Bill 2012; if the EDC will be replaced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2012/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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1The Educational Disadvantage Committee (EDC) was established under Section 32 of the Education Act, 1998. The role of the EDC was to advise the Minister for Education and Science on policies and strategies to be adopted to identify and correct educational disadvantage. The Committee's final report 'Moving Beyond Educational Disadvantage' was published in December 2005.

The Government decided, as part of the decision on rationalisation of agencies in the 2009 budget,that a formal statutory Committee was no longer required in order to advise on the issue of educational disadvantage. This decision required an amendment to legislation which is now provided for under Section 7 of the Education (Amendment) Bill 2012.

The Action Plan for Educational Inclusion (DEIS), which was launched in 2006, draws upon and complements a number of conclusions of the EDC's final report as well as contributions from the Education Partners.

The abolition of the EDC has not adversely impacted upon the Department's commitment to ongoing consultation on educational disadvantage and the wider social inclusion agenda. Both national and European strategies, i.e. the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) and the National Action Plans against Poverty and Social Exclusion (NAPs/incl), The Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 and the Programme for Government all provide a common language of objectives, priorities, targets and timescales against which future outcomes can be measured.

The Department is also committed to ongoing consultation with stakeholders.