Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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193. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason no DEIS schools in County Donegal were included as part of the new school excellence fund launched recently; the criteria used to determine which DEIS school would receive initial funding; when he plans to roll out funding to include schools in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48797/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The development of the School Excellence Fund is at an early pilot stage and its rollout is being managed on a phased basis.  Currently, there are 10 school clusters about to commence work in this early pilot phase, the majority of them located in urban areas designated as disadvantaged.  When fully established, it is anticipated that the cohort of schools involved in the School Excellence Fund will meet criteria such as geographical spread, a variety of school size and type, a cross-sectoral dimension, potential to engage in innovative practice in teaching and learning, and demonstrated capacity to engage in DEIS action planning for improvement.  There is no reason why DEIS schools in Donegal that meet criteria such as those outlined would not be included in further phases of the initiative, should they express an interest in participating.

Planning for the involvement of the next cohort of schools will begin in 2018.  It is envisaged that further phases of the initiative will be rolled out in 2018 and 2019, subject to learning from the initial pilot phase.