Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the replacement for the DEIS scheme will be announced; the criteria that will be used to ensure that the schools serving the most disadvantaged in society will be included in the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36891/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As I have already announced, it is my intention to publish a new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion in the coming weeks.

A process to review DEIS - the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion established last year is now nearing completion. The review is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, particularly the scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and Agencies, in order to improve effectiveness.

Among the measures to be included in the plan are a series of pilot schemes aimed at introducing measures which have been shown to work well in improving results for disadvantaged children and students. The plan is expected to include targeted measures in the area of:

- School leadership

- School networks and clusters

- Teaching methodologies

- Integration of schools and other State supports within communities

- Greater use of Home School Community Liaison services

The Review process also includes the development of a new methodology for the identification of schools in terms of educational disadvantage is nearing completion. This new Assessment Framework will use centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of schools. The relevant CSO data is based on information drawn from the National Census of Population and includes socio-economic variables that are known predictors of poorer educational outcomes. It is proposed that the framework will have the capacity to be updated as required to take account of relevant new CSO and DES data.

The Review has also included extensive stakeholder consultation, in particular, engagement with relevant education partners, academics and practitioners to ensure that learning from the implementation to date of DEIS is factored into our plans for a renewed School Support Programme.

Implementation of actions arising from the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion will begin in the 2017/18 school year, and will be a continuing theme in our wider Annual Action Plan for Education.

Further information on the DEIS Review process is available on my Department’s website at .