Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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213. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the new national action plan for educational inclusion will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3017/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, a process to review the DEIS Programme which began in 2015 is progressing very well and it is my intention to publish a new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion in the coming weeks.

The review process is looking at all aspects of DEIS, including the range and impact of different elements of the School Support Programme, the potential for innovation within and between schools and its scope for increased integration of services provided by other Departments and Agencies, in order to improve effectiveness.

The review process includes the development of a new assessment framework using centrally held CSO and DES data for the identification of schools for inclusion in a new Programme.  The number of schools to receive supports under a new School Support Programme will be determined by this new identification process, which will assess all schools in the country on the same basis.  Schools will not be required to submit an application for assessment as the methodology being applied involves the use of centrally held data already available to my Department.  

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.