Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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30. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of DEIS 1 and DEIS 2 schools in the country; if this number has increased in the past three years; if he review the eligibility criteria for this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16340/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There are currently 852 schools in DEIS. This figure is made up of 195 Urban Band 1, 141 Urban Band 2 schools, 322 rural and 194 post primary schools. The number of schools participating in DEIS has not increased in the past 3 years.

I have no immediate plans to review the eligibility criteria for DEIS.

DEIS is the subject of an ongoing evaluation to ensure successful implementation and that the best possible approaches to measuring progress and outcomes are used. Findings to date are very positive and show continuing improvements. However, they also show average results in DEIS schools still fall below the national average. It is important that the gains to date are built upon.

The current focus of my Department is on the ongoing evaluation of DEIS and on distilling the learning from this research to inform future policy on educational disadvantage, including the most appropriate eligibility criteria for schools.