Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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389. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all DEIS band 1 primary schools are allocated one home school liaison officer (HSCL) each; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that two DEIS band 1 schools (details supplied) at present share a home school liaison officer; his plans to ensure they are allocated a HSCL each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20584/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The matter referred to by the Deputy relates to the assignment of a Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) Coordinator where the assignment of the current Coordinator serving the school in question is due to expire at the end of the current school year.

The reassignment of HSCL duties is part of the normal cycle of the HSCL scheme and the allocation of a full or a shared teacher to these duties is related to the number of targeted pupils in the school in terms of educational disadvantage.

HSCL Coordinator posts are full time posts allocated to DEIS (urban primary and post primary) schools. Some HSCL posts are allocated on a shared basis between DEIS schools (in cluster groups) and can be shared across the two bands or sectors: primary and post primary level.

The Deputy may wish to note that officials of my Department are currently engaging with the school in question to ensure that access to HSCL support is in place for the coming school year to ensure the continuity of this important DEIS support. It is not proposed to make any amendment to the level of HSCL supports allocated for the 2017/2018 school year pending the outcome of an updating of the new DEIS identification model to reflect 2016 National Census data and 2016/17 school data from my Department's online pupil database. This will be followed by a further assessment of all schools in Autumn 2017 which will provide the basis for the future allocation of resources including HSCL services.

The Deputy may also wish to note that there are a number of specific actions relating to the HSCL Scheme, and to future arrangements for the clustering of schools to receive such resources in the new DEIS Plan which I launched earlier this year. Work on implementing these actions is being taken forward by my Department together with the Child and Family Agency Tusla which has responsibility for the management of the HSCL scheme, and our education partners including schools.