Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he intends to take to address the increasing numbers of disadvantaged children within the education system in view of the reduction in funding to support such children; the psychological supports being provided to children from grossly indebted families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17886/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Evidence has shown that disadvantage associated with poverty and social exclusion assumes a multiplier effect where the levels are highly concentrated in schools. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion remains my Department's policy instrument to address educational disadvantage which focuses on addressing and prioritising the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education. It is important to note that over 50% of disadvantaged students do not attend DEIS schools. Therefore while the majority of schools include, among their pupils, children with disadvantaged backgrounds, in general most schools address the individual needs of these children without recourse to additional targeted resources.

A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. Therefore it is my intention that the additional resources available to DEIS schools are utilised to optimum benefit to achieve identified outcomes for the most at risk pupils. All primary and post- primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly. NEPS psychologists are assigned schools based on a weighting process which takes into account school size, DEIS status, gender mix and geographical spread. DEIS schools are both afforded a priority in the assigning of a NEPS psychologist and a premium in time allocated by the psychologist to the school over non-DEIS schools.

It is also important to note that poverty is one of wide range of issues which impacts on the learning capacity of pupils and in respect of which interventions are made by a number of Government Departments and agencies. The targeting of resources in schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage remains a key priority for my Department.