Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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156. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration is being given to a DEIS application from a school (details supplied) in County Mayo; if he will prioritise it for inclusion on the DEIS scheme in view of the rural geographical position of the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15830/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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DEIS is my Department's main policy initiative to tackle educational disadvantage. The DEIS Plan for 2017 sets out our vision for future intervention in the critical area of social inclusion in education policy.

DEIS Plan 2017 provides for a new identification model for assessment of a school's level of disadvantage using centrally held data. The key data sources include the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases as populated by schools and the CSO Small Area of Population (SAP) data from the National Census of Population 2011 as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation Index (HP Index). Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is combined with pupil data, anonymised and aggregated to small area, to provide information on the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in the pupil cohort of individual schools. This data is applied uniformly across all schools in the country.

Schools are not required to make an application for inclusion in the DEIS programme as all schools in the country across both the Primary and Post Primary sectors have been assessed in terms of the socio-economic background of their pupil cohort using centrally held data. This process has determined the level of concentrated disadvantage across the school system and identifies those schools in need of the greatest level of support.

In its initial application, the new identification model has identified that there are schools in disadvantaged areas, not previously included in DEIS, whose level of disadvantage is at the same level as the current DEIS category for schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage. This includes 15 new Urban Band 1 schools, 30 Urban Band 2 schools raised to Urban Band 1 status, 51 new Rural DEIS schools and 13 new Post Primary DEIS schools.

Accordingly, we are moving as a first step to include these schools in the DEIS School Support Programme. Schools included in the list published by my Department on 13th February are those whose level of concentrated disadvantage has been identified as being

Schools which have not been included, including the school referred to by the Deputy, are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification process, which is fair, objective and has been uniformly applied. I am fully aware that there are further schools whose concentrated level of disadvantage may not be at the highest level, but may nevertheless be at a level which warrants additional supports for pupils under DEIS.

However, as noted in the DEIS Plan, the implementation of a new objective central data-based model of identifying levels of disadvantage within school populations will be followed by a further programme of work to create a more dynamic model where levels of resource more accurately follow the levels of need identified by that model. Once this work has been completed, consideration will be given to extending DEIS supports to a further group of schools as resources permit.

In delivering on the DEIS Plan 2017 we must be conscious that there are ongoing changes in demographics which may be more marked in some areas than others. Populations in some areas have changed considerably since schools were originally evaluated for inclusion in DEIS in 2006. The new model may reveal that some schools currently included in DEIS have a level of disadvantage within their school population much lower than that in some schools not included within DEIS. If this turns out to be the case, then we must consider whether it is fair that those schools continue receiving these additional resources, using resources that may be more fairly allocated to the schools with greater levels of disadvantage.

The DEIS Plan provides for a verification process and any school wishing to seek verification of the information used to assess the level of disadvantage of its pupil cohort may submit an application for same to social_inclusion@education.gov.ie.