Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The process of identifying primary and second-level 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 in 2005. The school to which the Deputy refers was among the schools that were judged not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage among their pupils to warrant their inclusion in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools), the Action Plan for educational inclusion. A review mechanism was put in place to address the concerns of those schools that did not qualify for inclusion in the School Support Programme under DEIS but regarded themselves as having a level of disadvantage which is of a scale sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the programme. No application for review was received from the school to which the Deputy refers. While a key priority for me is to continue to prioritise and target resources at schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage, the current economic climate and the challenge to meet significant targets on reducing public expenditure, particularly given the upward pressures on teacher numbers and in the context of operating under a fixed ceiling on teacher numbers, affords no capacity to provide for additionality to the DEIS programme.

A national composite report on the effectiveness of DEIS planning in primary and post-primary schools was published by the Inspectorate of my Department in January 2012. In addition, a Report on the First Phase of the Evaluation of DEIS was also published by the Education Research Centre, on behalf of my Department, in January 2012.

My Department will fully consider these evaluation reports before any decisions can be made regarding the future of DEIS.