Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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181. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of current DEIS schools that would not have met his Department's new criteria for inclusion in the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21415/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that an initial assessment of all schools has been used to extend DEIS supports to those schools with the highest concentrations of disadvantage as detailed in the list of schools published on 13th February. This represents a first step in the application of the new DEIS identification process and we are moving to support pupils in those schools with effect from September 2017. 

A further application of the identification process will take account of updated DES online pupil data from 2016/17 2016 National Census data when it becomes available later this year. 

It is my Department's intention to make available to all schools information relating to this process and their own individual school data. Arrangements for this are in hand and schools will be advised in due course. However it is not proposed to publish this information generally as there is a significant risk that this would allow crude comparisons to be drawn in terms of relative levels of disadvantage in schools. This would be highly divisive; unfair to parents, students and communities; place schools in an invidious position; and be contrary to the public interest.